<Episode 20>

With a somewhat aggressive tone, Lihad finally revealed his true colors, grinning menacingly.

“Before you prattle on any longer, I might as well rip out your tongue. Do you really think you can resist without using mana?”

Sien pressed his lips tightly together, glaring at Lihad.

The two remained in a standoff for a while.

Sien was the first to look away, nervously tousling his hair.

“XX….”

Just as Lihad said, if this were in the Empire, he could counter with magic, but here, it was all about physical strength.

He also knew he couldn’t do anything about his body’s abilities.

He could shoot a gun, but cleaning up afterward would be difficult.

Tsk, as Sien retracted his killing intent, Lihad clicked his tongue.

‘That pompous, trashy tongue of his hasn’t changed at all.’

Then, Lihad gestured toward the door and shifted the topic.

“What’s the relationship between the Duke and the Lady?”

At the sudden voice, Sien frowned in annoyance.

“Well, I’m not concerned with anyone but myself.”

“Why not share? Given that you’re in a position to receive help, you should know at least that much.”

Leaning his head against the wall, Sien briefly glanced at Lihad.

“You don’t need to know. It would only make you worry.”

Sien lowered his gaze, which was slightly subdued.

I felt the same way right now.

Lihad frowned and turned his upper body toward the bed.

“So, what exactly is that—”

Clang.

At that moment, the door opened, and Jaeger walked in. He ignored the two engaged in conversation and sat down by the window.

Leaning against the wall, he rested a longsword against his arm and closed his eyes.

Soon after, Redria entered. She glanced at Jaeger sitting beneath the window and scratched her cheek with a slightly displeased look.

An awkward exchange between them was palpable.

‘What’s going on?’

The two men quickly caught each other’s eye, reading the situation.

‘XX….’

‘Damn….’

Both Sien and Lihad turned their heads sharply, as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have. Yet, questions lingered in their minds.

It seemed something had happened between the two, but what could it possibly be?

Though curiosity flickered through their minds, they couldn’t ask.

The sound of Redria’s colorful breaths filled the air.

There was no longer a chance to chat.

Morning was approaching.

* * *

“Is everyone ready?”

I asked, checking the miniature weapons I had shrunk down to the size of my fingers, laying them on my palm.

The male leads in the living room seemed to have finished their preparations and turned to look at me.

The Crown Prince had a spear resting on his shoulder, Jaeger carried a backpack full of food and held a mace in his hand. And Sien was…

“Are you going to carry that blanket with you?”

Sien said, cradling the blanket I had washed for him again with great care.

“Is that not okay?”

He blinked his sleep-heavy eyes.

“No, it’s not that it can’t be done.”

On his thigh was the leather holster he had obtained from the weapons storage the day before. Seeing the revolver inside, I thought it would be fine to pack the blanket as well.

But then, unexpectedly meeting Jaeger’s gaze made me flinch and look away.

Immediately afterward, I put the miniature weapons into my pouch and absentmindedly adjusted my tied-up hair.

‘Ah, this is so awkward.’

After our conversation the day before, I wasn’t sure how to act around Jaeger.

‘So his first love isn’t the saintess but Redria?’

In other words—

[Childhood Friend – Deceit – Hatred]

would now have changed to,

[First Love – Deceit – Hatred].

In the original story, there were scenes where he would often look longingly at a handkerchief given to him by the saintess during their childhood.

Moreover, since he gave up his title as Duke and became the captain of the knight order, it was natural to assume that he had liked Roeni since they were kids.

I would have never imagined that his first love was Redria.

Upon reflection, longing for someone while looking at a symbolic object is possible between family and friends too.

Because of this, if he were to hold onto his past, my plan to persuade him by saying he wouldn’t want to see the saintess even for a day would be pointless.

‘What am I going to do from now on?’

I sighed at my rock-solid sense of romance.

“Ria?”

“….”

“Ria.”

In that moment, I felt warmth in my hand, which had been lost in thought.

I looked up, suddenly alert.

All three male leads were looking at me.

Sien, holding my hand, asked with concern.

“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Seeing them somehow cleared up my complicated thoughts.

It felt like going from looking at a tree to seeing the forest.

‘If I meet one more male lead and return to the system, it should be over. Why was I worrying so much?’

I smiled faintly and released Sien’s hand, pulling out a sticky note and a fountain pen from my pouch.

“What are you doing?”

“I thought there might be additional survivors coming this way. I’m going to leave a message telling them to head north.”

Of course, it was meant to be shown to the Crown Prince, Jaeger, and Sien.

My objective was to save the male leads, but I had told them it was for the sake of rescuing additional survivors.

Before leaving the cabin, I stuck the sticky note on the front door.

“This should be visible.”

I smiled at the sticky note.

Well, there probably wouldn’t be any additional survivors other than us.