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I approached my unit.

Fifty pairs of eyes followed Vivian, who was trailing behind me.

Feeling their gazes was suddenly grotesque, I blurted out,

“Stop staring! She finds you all creepy!”

Vivian gasped, grabbed my arm, and protested,

“W-when did I say that…!”

But it seemed everyone felt the weight of their stares, and one by one, the boy soldiers awkwardly shifted their gaze away.

At least Balron, who was somewhat of a friend, approached to ask what everyone was so curious about.

“So, Kyle, is it true that Lady Vivian is going to sleep with us today?”

“Where else is she supposed to sleep?”

“Well, sure, but…”

Balron’s eyes met Vivian’s, who was standing right behind me.

He fidgeted, lowered his stance, took a step back, and even awkwardly saluted while scratching the back of his head.

His reaction wasn’t totally incomprehensible.

How often does a regular citizen get to meet the lord of all Roktana this closely?

Even though we were staying in the same castle, Balron and Vivian Rondore didn’t cross paths very often.

That was true for everyone.

In the end, they had only seen her from afar, and this was the first time Vivian had gotten this messy close.

Knowing this, I shouted to everyone,

“We’re going to be together for ten days, so stop acting awkward and just be yourselves! If you keep this up, it’s going to be tough for all of us on the expedition!”

Everyone perked up their ears, pretending not to hear me.

This time, it was Balron who moved first.

He shuffled in front of me, extended his hand as if to shake, and said,

“I-I’m Balron. Let’s, uh, take care of each other.”

-Smack!

In a fluster of irritation, I slapped his hand away.

Balron looked dejectedly at me, waiting for Vivian’s reaction.

Vivian recoiled slightly, responding in a nervous tone,

“I-I’m Vivian Rondore…”

“Who doesn’t know that?”

Seeing Vivian’s awkwardness, I couldn’t help but nag again.

With a sheepish expression, Vivian looked embarrassed at my words.

Then Willas darted in after witnessing Balron’s introduction.

“I-I’m Willas.”

“Ah, yes… Nice to meet you…”

Vivian’s innocent response left everyone momentarily speechless.

After all, the treatment they had received from nobility was probably neglect and scorn, making Vivian’s demeanor feel unfamiliar.

Just as that silence broke, the fifty boy soldiers rushed in, busy cementing their names into Vivian’s memory.

“I-I’m Martin.”

“Lady Vivian! I’m Duran…!”

“I’m…!” “Me too…!”

Each time, Vivian diligently responded,

“Ah, yes. Oh, really… Ah, yes…”

I left them to their introductions and headed towards the fire in the center of the camp.

-Swish…

But once again, someone was holding onto the hem of my clothes as I was moving.

Sure enough, Vivian was trying to follow me again.

Even though I pretended to be okay with it, the attention was still clearly overwhelming for her.

Having been surrounded by the same group of people, stepping into a new crowd was a moment of confusion for her.

-Thump.

I shook off her hand.

The kids in the Punishment Unit had a rough side, sure, but they weren’t the kind to endanger a noble’s life.

There was definitely no problem here.

-Swish.

“Ah, yes… Uh, I see…”

Yet, Vivian kept responding to the boy soldiers while clinging to my shirt’s hem like it was a lifeline.

It was a silent promise to never be left alone in their midst.

I found it amusing and whispered to her,

“…When you were cursing me, it was fine, but now you want to follow me around?”

Vivian whispered back like she was performing ventriloquism,

“…Shh. It’s all your fault.”

In the end, I moved on with her tagging along.

The camp was divided into four areas.

The mid-ranking officers of the Punishment Unit had set up each camp at a certain distance from one another.

And in each camp, a watch unit was stationed to look after everyone.

The reason for spacing the accommodations this wide was for a few reasons, but the biggest one was dragons.

Dragons could appear at any moment.

While the chances were extremely slim, if a dragon decided to breathe fire over a resting camp, it would mean total annihilation.

Even if it was a stretch, scattered was better.

Anyway, we had to prepare meals for fifty.

I approached the pot over the fire in the camp center.

“No one touch this pot today. I’ll do the cooking.”

I declared to the members of the Punishment Unit.

They each reacted in their own ways.

“What’s this? Why are you doing that?”

“Well, if you’re good at it, then let’s have a nice meal!”

Most responded positively, but a few were suspicious of my motives.

In a mocking tone, one said,

“What’s this guy trying to do, impress Lady Vivian?”

I laughed off the suspicion, pointing at Vivian.

“What about her is so impressive? If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t even be hanging out with you guys.”

“…That’s a point.”

It seemed even those who were suspicious found my answer at least reasonable.

Vivian showed no reaction.

She obviously understood why I was doing this.

I wanted to ensure the food wasn’t poisoned.

Even though the probability was non-existent, doing this made me feel better.

Martin and a few boy soldiers brought food from the cart.

Potatoes, carrots, onions, and some slightly smelly meat…

I checked the items one by one, sniffing them for quality, and if they seemed fine, I slowly added them to the bubbling pot.

Vivian was squatting next to me, watching with curiosity.

“…Can you really cook?”

“You sometimes have to cook in the Punishment Unit.”

“You did that too?”

“You know just how easy you have it compared to me, right?”

“…”

Her seemingly casual question made me realize she was a bit upset with my response.

To my surprise, instead of walking away in annoyance, Vivian reached for a potato.

Smelling it like I had, she responded incredulously,

“How hard can it be? I can do this too!”

Then she tried to dump the entire basket of potatoes into the pot.

I quickly intervened,

“Hey, hey! If you put all of that in…!”

-Splash! Plunk! Plunk!

Vivian realized she had messed up upon hearing my warning, looking at me with an “uh-oh” expression.

Not just me, the boy soldiers around me were all staring with their mouths agape at her actions.

For the first time, a silence descended over the camp due to Vivian’s spontaneous action.

Vivian froze in that silence.

“Ev-everyone knows how to eat this much…”

I explained to her,

“Everyone can eat that much, but that’s only when it’s all they have. That’s ten days’ worth of potatoes for us. Quickly, scoop them out.”

“S-sorry…”

Vivian hurriedly began fishing out the potatoes one by one.

When she had half of them out, I pointed out the state of the remaining ones in the pot.

“Stop there. The rest are already overcooked and there’s nothing we can do about it. They’ll spoil quickly.”

Vivian was restless, like a guilty criminal, glancing at the boy soldiers and me repeatedly.

Willas attempted to ease the mood with a joke.

“Haha… It’s fine, Lady Vivian! Well, it came out of Rondore’s storage, so we’re just thankful to receive anything…!”

Seeing everyone else cautious, Duran chimed in.

“Y-yeah…! I love potatoes! We’ll eat until we burst!”

I tossed some cold water on their enthusiasm.

“You’ll be left with nothing but carrots later.”

Balron jabbed me in the ribs, whispering,

“Come on! Who doesn’t know that…? Just chill!”

Vivian became even more glum after seeing Balron.

And I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Vivian’s expression.

As I laughed alone, a wave of chuckles began rippling through the boy soldiers.

The more they laughed, the redder Vivian’s face got, as if it were turning the same color as her hair.

It seemed like she found a bit of comfort in the fact that they didn’t see her in a bad light.

Someone made a lighthearted comment to ease the atmosphere.

“Dinner’s going to be delicious tonight! Boiled potatoes instead of stew is nice too.”

“So humane, it’s really charming, Lady Vivian!”

“…Your future husband will be very lucky.”

Vivian couldn’t even raise her head, whispering,

“P-please stop…”

But the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned.

…

After the cooking was finished, everyone was served.

“Whoa! What is this taste?!”

“Such heavenly flavor…!”

While everyone fussed excitedly for Vivian’s sake, she was already eating her meal.

With her cheeks still flushed, it seemed she was struggling to adapt to the atmosphere.

But I was glad she didn’t have that gloomy expression that she had shown at the Castle of Rondore.

“Is it good?”

I asked Vivian, and she nodded slightly.

It seemed she felt a bit proud that she had cooked for once.

While we continued our meal, Burgor approached.

“Are you eating? Ah, Lady Vivian, is the food to your liking…?”

“Yes, it’s good.”

Burgor went up to the pot over the fire and looked inside.

“Huh?”

He expressed his bewilderment, then started nagging.

“What’s this? Who told you to cook so many potatoes? Are you planning on eating only onions later?”

Martin snickered and replied,

“It was Lady Vivian who did it.”

…

Burgor froze momentarily at that.

He looked like he couldn’t believe Vivian had actually cooked.

After all, who would have imagined that the head of Rondore and lord of Roktana would cook for a bunch of boy soldiers?

Vivian hid her head between her knees.

The boy soldiers snickered at Burgor with an expression that said, “You’re in big trouble.”

Burgor, however, cleared his throat and continued with a defense.

“Well, it looks better than I expected. After all, it’s nice to see Lady Vivian caring for you guys…”

While he rambled on with his lengthy speech, whispers about how pathetic he was quietly passed around.

…

“Y-you sleep like this?”

After finishing the meal, I dusted off the floor and set up a sleeping area, shocking Vivian.

Instead of a familiar ceiling, an open sky stretched above us.

The boy soldiers found their spots, cleared the stones, and laid down to sleep.

Some of them on watch duty, exhausted, had already begun to snore.

Fortunately, I wasn’t on watch tonight.

Vivian couldn’t believe her eyes at the sight of them sprawled out.

Maybe she thought we would at least put up some tents.

But looking at it, that’s all manpower and luggage.

We preferred sleeping like this.

I told her,

“Even if you want to set up a tent, we don’t have any fabric. Just accept it and lie down quickly. If you take too long to sleep, the snoring will be unbearable.”

“…”

I tossed her a sleeping mat and began clearing stones to find a flat area.

Then I laid down my mat and settled onto the floor.

After walking all day, I was exhausted.

The cool breeze was perfect for falling asleep.

…

Feeling relaxed, I noticed Vivian clearing stones beside me.

I had expected this, but her being so close made my breath catch.

Vivian settled down next to me with a slow movement, laying out her sleeping mat.

Our shoulders were nearly touching now.

…

I couldn’t grasp why she was so close to me.

Was it an expression of her nervousness, or was she not able to think straight, or was it something else?

In a voice barely above a whisper, she murmured,

“Is this how we sleep…? It’s a bit c-cold.”

“…I’m cool with it.”

“You’re from the cold north, so of course you are. A bit too wild, too.”

“…Even though you say that, I’m from the nobility too.”

I shook my head and turned my back to her.

Turning away made me feel a little easier.

“Stop whining and go to sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be busy.”

“…You said the battle starts tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“I hope everyone stays safe.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if I was included in her ‘everyone’.

She who once wished for my death on this expedition.

But I didn’t ask her about this thought.

Instead, I pressed my eyes shut and organized my thoughts.

****

It’s cold.

Vivian thought.

She wasn’t quite awake enough to do anything about her coldness.

In a dream-like state, she instinctively curled up to respond to the chilly air and weather.

As if searching for a blanket, her body wriggled in every direction, unconsciously seeking any warmth it could find.

She began to sneeze lightly, possibly catching a cold.

Vivian squirmed and tried to fall asleep again.

-Swish.

At that moment, something warm enveloped her from behind.

Feeling the warmth, she was about to drift back into sleep, but a nagging thought hit her.

…

Vivian opened her eyes.

Next to her, the dawn sky was shining a greenish hue above her.

At the same time, she realized something heavy was pressing down on her body.

There was another arm on her shoulder, and someone’s leg was draped across hers.

Feeling the warmth radiating from her back, she understood she had just been embraced by someone.

Kyle.

It had to be Kyle, as he was the only one who had fallen asleep beside her.

Kyle, who had wrapped her up to keep her warm, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

His breath tickled Vivian’s neck, sending shivers down her spine.

In this overwhelming situation, Vivian couldn’t make herself budge.

A single curiosity held her in place more than anything else.

…Had Kyle woken up, or was he still sleeping?

Had he wrapped her up unconsciously, or was he doing it on purpose?

She didn’t even know why she was curious or why she couldn’t move, but Vivian remained frozen.

She embraced the warmth he offered completely.

…

Vivian realized that when the day broke and her thoughts were clearer, she’d possibly regret this choice.

It would be mortifying to find herself clinging to the Kyle Allen she had detested.

Knowing this, she still couldn’t move.

Thump… thump… thump…!

Her heart raced more wildly than ever before, and it felt strange.

Vivian couldn’t overcome this strange sense of curiosity.

Slowly, she began to shift in his embrace.

It was something she felt she needed to know.

Whether it was accidental or intentional.

Feigning sleep, she turned to face him.

Instead of the usual musky smell of dust or blood, it was the scent of grass and fire.

If it was Kyle’s scent, it was strangely easy to imprint on her memory.

As she melted into his warmth, Vivian steeled herself.

She slowly opened her eyes to look up at Kyle.

…

…

Kyle was looking at her, wide awake and relaxed.

Even though he had been caught in her action, he showed no signs of embarrassment.

Without rearranging or adjusting himself, he simply kept their gaze locked.

His lips were almost touching her forehead.

-Thud!!

Vivian could hold back her racing heart no longer and pushed Kyle away.

The once icy atmosphere instantly warmed up.

“Hah… hah… you… you… so…”

She gasped, unable to say anything to Kyle.

Because she too had been squirming in his embrace.

Because she had hesitated before pushing him away.

She knew if she asked him why he hugged her, he’d just shoot back, “Why didn’t you push me away?”

In that moment, Vivian had no retort.

“Ugh…”

…

Kyle seemed to want to avoid clarifying the situation.

Scratching the back of his head, he stood up and stretched his arms.

“…Yawn.”

Picking up the two-handed sword he had left beside him, he sighed.

Then he walked over to the pot at the camp’s center and began cooking calmly.

 

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