“Hey, can you just let go of that?”
“If I let go, you’ll run straight to Kremperia Castle, right? What are you planning to do there?”
“Come on, romance on the battlefield? We don’t have time to waste on useless things when we could be doing…”
“Ugh, seriously.”
Kalt held onto Rania’s arm, refusing to let go.
“Young people are supposed to date, and if we interfere, what’s the point? If they want to be together, they’ll find a way.”
“I’m young too! As a fellow youth…”
“Not youth; someone who wishes they were young.”
Rania glared at him.
With that glare, she turned her back, looking somewhat upset, her lips trembling slightly. Was that too harsh? Kalt swallowed hard.
“Hey, Kalt.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“What exactly is youth? How do you enjoy it?”
It was an extremely… extremely difficult question to answer.
The very fact that he was asking such a question signaled something was off, but Kalt managed to swallow it down.
“Life is such a pain…”
Rania let out a long sigh and trudged away, heading deeper into the gorge, not toward Kremperia Castle. Kalt watched her back and felt an unexpected bitterness.
“Well, we’re still quite young…”
“Shut up and get back to work.”
—
Creek, bang.
The door to the office closed with a sound.
Natyda leaned back against the closed door, catching her breath. She looked different today—different mood—while Rack blinked at her, but Natyda couldn’t meet his gaze.
“What do you want to say?”
“Just, give me a moment. Just a little bit…”
Fidgeting with her hair, Natyda looked down at the floor. Her ears were flushed red.
‘What’s with her?’
Natyda had never acted like this before. Rack tilted his head in confusion. After a moment, Natyda slowly opened her mouth.
“So, Rack?”
“Yes?”
“How do I look?”
That was an extremely sudden question.
Rack blinked in surprise.
“What do you mean?”
“You know… I dressed a little differently today. What do you think?”
“You look beautiful. At first, I thought you were someone else.”
“…Really?”
A blunt compliment thrown out without much thought.
Natyda lowered her head a bit more. As she murmured softly with her head down, she took a deep breath as if gathering her courage.
Tap.
Natyda lifted her head and walked toward Rack. With each step, her skirt swayed, and her brown hair shimmered.
“Rack.”
Seated in the office chair, Rack looked up at Natyda as she stood over him, the table separating them. Just an arm’s length away. Natyda swallowed hard.
“We’ve known each other for over a hundred days now.”
“Yes.”
“By now, don’t you think we know each other well enough?”
Natyda asked.
“How do you think of me?”
How to answer that?
Rack rubbed his chin, pondering. He first met Natyda three months ago, the current Saint who abruptly appeared in the North. What was his first impression?
‘…It was quite shocking.’
He still couldn’t forget how she had repeatedly smoked and hit a priest. It was quite an unforgettable surprise.
“My first impression was very unique.”
“…That’s undeniable.”
“What kind of person is this? Ah, but if it’s from the professor, it makes sense. The professor has his reasons, being special and all… that’s what I thought.”
Nevertheless, Rack continued.
“Now, you’re very different.”
“…Different how?”
“I think you’re a good person. A wonderful person. After hearing your past over drinks, I really came to feel that way.”
Natyda had shared her past while drinking.
How she had lived in the Church Order.
And how satisfied she was with her life now. Rack gained a deeper understanding of Natyda through that story. He felt admiration for Natyda, who wanted to remain a saint despite having lived such a life.
“Besides…”
“You owe me, don’t you? In the North and in this battle. You allowed me to maintain my last pride up North, and in this battle…”
Rack looked directly at Natyda.
“Thanks to you, I was able to keep it all intact against that beast. I really appreciate it.”
Rack chuckled.
“You’re a good person. Unique, yes, but that’s included too.”
A soft smile spilled from his lips.
Seeing that smile, Natyda slowly closed her eyes. She had dreamt of that smile. The one Rack had shown in front of the campfire.
“I must like you a lot.”
The smile of future Rack overlapped with the one Rack was looking at her with now. In that moment, Natyda couldn’t help but smile back. What was she even doing?
‘Honestly, this doesn’t suit me at all.’
Embarrassed and awkward.
This kind of atmosphere was unfamiliar to Natyda. She didn’t prefer the push-and-pull of dating games. Natyda shivered briefly, then let out a long breath.
“Ha…”
Why did she come here?
It was to fulfill a wish her future self had delayed and didn’t achieve. That wish was also what the current Natyda desired.
Natyda had feelings for Rack.
If Rack were to confess to her, she felt she could accept it without hesitation. Perhaps future her felt the same… Her future self had been really happy with the awkward confession Rack had shared by the campfire.
Suppressing her urge to yell, maintaining a calm composure while speaking, future her had known. Also, she realized how much her future self regretted it all in the end.
It could have been such a fairytale moment.
She could have answered with joy and laughter.
She could have grabbed him and planted a kiss right there.
Future her pondered over that moment of confession countless times, and if she could return from this operation, she firmly vowed to confess from her side.
However, no second chances came her way.
Thus, that small wish turned into regret and lingered. Though she couldn’t feel everything her future self felt, she could sense those fragments.
“Rack.”
Natyda bowed her head.
“You remember what I said last time, right?”
Whether this was emotion influenced by dreams or just a mere momentary delusion, it didn’t matter. Even before dreaming, she had feelings for the man in front of her.
‘Ah, so this is what it feels like.’
Her heart raced wildly.
Natyda smiled.
“You remember that you confessed to me in my dream, right?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“You know it happened in some future, too?”
“I found out about that as well.”
“Well, that’s good enough.”
The future had already happened.
That future had ended with a tragic conclusion, but that all turned into nothing. Dodging tragedy, Natyda made her choice.
“So…”
Natyda reached out.
“I’m going to confess this time.”
Her slender fingers gripped Rack’s collar tightly. The moment Rack’s eyes widened in surprise, Natyda pulled him closer, pressing her face in.
A brief silence.
After what felt like an eternity, Natyda shoved Rack’s collar back. Phew, she exhaled a heated breath, looking at Rack with a mischievous smile.
“I’ll wait for your answer later. You wouldn’t think this is a joke, would you?”
Natyda whispered.
“This was my first time, so if you take it as a joke, I might actually cry!”
With those words, Natyda spun around and exited the office. Creak, bang. Hearing the door close, Rack blinked blankly. He raised his hand to touch his lips.
Even though he foresaw the future with superhuman sense…
Despite that, Rack didn’t push Natyda away. Was it shock? Or was it an unexpected attack? With a stunned expression, Rack continued to blink for a long while.
No matter how clueless Rack was about romance.
He knew what this meant.
“…Huh.”
Rack exhaled.
It was the first time he felt such an emotion. At this moment, memories of the stories told by warriors floated through his mind.
“Sir, if there’s a woman who serves you, don’t let her go. If your heart races, then it’s over.”
“What are you doing?”
“Go on and grab her!”
What they said was indeed true.
Rack stood up from his seat.
—
Creak, bang.
As soon as Natyda exited, she slid down, crouched on her knees, burying her face in her lap against the door.
Her ears flushed red.
Natyda fidgeted with her lips and let out a short sigh. Did she go too far? No, but isn’t this the kind of thing that would get through? Then again, is this really okay?
…What if he rejects me?
What would she do if he did? Just keep pushing until it worked.
Natyda chuckled. She felt ridiculous for thinking this way. Her heart was racing so fiercely it amazed her. She was surprised to realize she could feel such emotions.
After being freed from the Church Order, the novels she read.
The vibrant blue and pastel pink tales of youth that came from them made Natyda feel as if she’d become the main character of one of those stories, and she absentmindedly tousled her hair.
“I’ve gone crazy.”
But honestly, so what?
She had never been sane to begin with. Just as she finally stood up and prepared to leave, the office door she was leaning on swung open.
Bang.
Suddenly feeling a presence behind her.
As she looked up, there stood Rack, looking down at her. The moment their eyes met, Natyda’s lips parted slightly. Rack reached out to the stuttering Natyda, who couldn’t get her words out.
“Is it alright if I give you my answer now?”
—
After investigating the Grave of the Sword for nearly half a day, Rania and Kalt returned to Kremperia. The information gained from the Grave of the Sword was no trivial matter.
“This has complicated things.”
“Yeah, it really has. I think we need to get Rack involved. It seems…”
After a deep sigh, the two made their way to Rack’s office. Walking through the corridor of Kremperia, Rania tilted her head.
“Hey, Kalt.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why do I feel so uneasy? What’s up with this?”
“I don’t know. I feel uneasy too for some reason.”
Something feels really off.
Feeling an inexplicable discomfort, the two arrived at Rack’s office only to find the door slightly ajar. Rania tilted her head and pushed the door open wide.
“Rack, about the King of Beasts…”
The moment Rania entered, her face hardened. Kalt, who stood behind her, also stiffened with shock.
“Oh, Rania! You’re here!”
Natyda exclaimed in an unusually lively voice as she embraced Rack from behind. Seeing her looking so blissful as she hung on Rack’s neck made Rania feel a sudden wave of dizziness.
“What are you two… doing?”
“A, Rania!”
Natyda shouted excitedly.
“Starting today, we’re da—”
Rania’s hand shot up instinctively. Bang, she quickly grabbed Rania’s wrist. Kalt shook his head decisively as Rania opened her mouth to shout. Kalt reached out again and covered Rania’s mouth.
And then, dragging her along, he said,
“Rack? First, congratulations.”
Kalt forced a smile.
“We’ll talk later.”
Creek, bang.
The door closed with a heavy sound.
