---

“Ugh… it’s hot.”

Hailey unconsciously mumbled as the sun blazed down from high in the sky.

Unlike before, today’s sunlight felt somehow hotter. Having grown up in Merohim, where snow can be seen all year round, Hailey became acutely aware of the rising temperatures in Sarham.

While Merohim was always blanketed in snow, Sarham has distinct four seasons.

It has already been over two months since Elena and Hailey arrived in Sarham, and it’s about time to transition from spring to summer. Though it would still require some time for summer to truly arrive, the feeling of changing seasons was not something Hailey was familiar with.

After spending quite some time in Sarham, just when she thought she had fully acclimated, the different environment of this place jolted her back to reality. Even though she preferred this warm lord’s castle over the icy domain where she used to live, she still needed more time to fully adapt to the southern climate.

With a look of wonder, Hailey observed Elena strolling through the garden.

“Are you alright, Miss? You’re a bit frail…”

While she wanted nothing more than to hide in the shade, her lady, who grew up in a similar environment, was cheerfully wandering outside under the blazing sun with her fiancé. Even though she could have gone inside to rest, Hailey was worried and kept an eye on her, but Elena looked as lively as the children playing in the street.

It was hard to believe that Elena, who surpassed the realms of legendary great sorcerers, would suffer from the heat, but Hailey was certainly unaware of that fact, just like Damian standing right next to her.

“By the way, you two really don’t seem to want to separate for even a moment. The weather is getting hotter; aren’t you feeling it?”

As she watched the two of them walking closely together outside, Hailey couldn’t help but fan her own blushing face.

The reason she felt hot wasn’t solely because the season was changing. Being in the presence of the increasingly sweet atmosphere between the two after the engagement ceremony would cause anyone to blush all day long.

Hailey was not only Elena’s maid, but she was also a young girl going through puberty.

Though she had mastered all the qualities needed as a maid, such as administrative duties and etiquette at such a young age in order to assist Elena, it therefore meant that she was inevitably knowledgeable, even without experience, about matters between men and women.

As a result, whenever she caught a glimpse of the two of them exchanging glances, her accumulated knowledge would often run wild in her imagination, causing her to visualize inappropriate scenarios. Naturally, it made her cheeks flush.

Ultimately, the heat Hailey felt was a consequence of her own thoughts.

After watching them for a few minutes, Hailey decided to head inside the building.

It wouldn’t be suitable, no matter how much of a maid she was, to just stand by observing them like that, so she decided to give them some space for a while. It would be more fitting for her to head back to the castle and prepare a glass of cold water to cool down.

Imagining the scenarios in her head remained just that: imagination. She understood that it was too soon to expect anything more than mere kisses from the two who were already blushing all day long.

Thus, assured that nothing significant would happen even if she left them alone, Hailey stepped into the building.

“Cold drinks to enjoy~ Speaking of which, I think I saw that strawberries are in season, so maybe I should prepare a strawberry shake. I bet the young master would be fine with just an iced coffee, right?”

Knowing Elena’s daily routine made it easy for Hailey to predict that the two would return to the building for tea time. Originally, it would have been fine to send a servant to prepare everything, but perhaps because she had spent so much time attending to Elena, Hailey almost automatically moved to do it herself.

“Shake~ Shake~ Sweet and tangy strawberry shake~”

Hailey hummed as she headed toward the kitchen.

While each annex had the necessary tools for tea time, what she was about to prepare required not only ingredients but also the use of the kitchen.

With her face all brightened up at the thought of strawberry shakes, it was hard to tell whether she was preparing the shake for Elena or for herself.

Typically, she would have complained about the distance being too far, but thinking about the strawberry shake made her happy, and Hailey didn’t mutter a single word of complaint while walking to the kitchen.

“Hans! Two strawberry shakes and an iced coffee, please!”

“You brat. If you’ve come into the kitchen, you should make it yourself! What would you do, asking me to make it for you? Why would someone who can do it themselves ask for help?”

As soon as Hailey opened the kitchen door, she naturally threw her request at Hans, as if it were a common thing. Hans, with an expression of disbelief, responded as though this was a repeated offense.

“But I’m so tired after running from Isilia Pavilion to here. I have to go back to Isilia Pavilion, so please just make this much for me~”

“Alright, alright. But you’ll have to wait a bit. There are guests before you.”

Hans replied with a drawn-out voice while gesturing toward the kitchen window.

Looking over there, she could see the knights covered in sweat, likely just finished from training. The ‘guests’ Hans referred to were them.

Looking back around the kitchen, she noticed that the cups set on the countertop contained ice cubes along with several strawberries. Perhaps influenced by strawberries being in season, what Hans was going to make for them was also strawberry shakes.

“Ah, of course. You can take your time preparing them.”

Turning her head to look out the window, she saw the knights raising their hands, signaling their presence, looking like they might collapse at any moment. Just how hard must they have been working for their arms, which were called superhuman, to tremble like aspen trees?

The dirt and sweat-soaked bodies of the knights, marked from their grueling training, vividly painted the picture of their struggles.

Did seeing their state trigger something in her?

Hailey watched the knights looking like messes, her eyes filled with a tinge of envy, and soon started assisting Hans in preparing drinks for the knights. Unlike her earlier pretense at whining for help when she first entered the kitchen, now Hailey’s movements were swift and precise as she helped Hans serve drinks to the knights.

“Here you go, the ordered strawberry shakes served!”

Imitating a café staff, Hailey handed the shakes to the knights. The knight who received the cup from her through the window thanked her.

Only after all the knights had finished their drinks and departed did Hailey finally leave the kitchen. Watching the knights head back to the training grounds from outside with a gaze filled with a hint of regret, she then returned to Isilia Pavilion.

*

Before dawn had even broken.

Alphonse woke up in bed before the manservants who would light the lord’s castle.

“Yawn…”

He stretched his arms and legs while yawning lazily. Having done this many times before, Alphonse was quite adept at his morning routine now.

The light entering through the window was just a faint glow from the stars and the moon still hanging in the sky. There was still not enough brightness to wake anyone with that minimal amount of light.

Despite not having set an alarm for fear of making too much noise in the mansion, Alphonse was able to wake up this time thanks to his efforts to get up early.

That said, Alphonse didn’t intentionally reduce his sleep time to wake up in the early hours. For Alphonse, who wanted to grow tall like his father and brother, the most important things were drinking milk and having adequate sleep time. He merely adjusted his sleeping schedule by going to bed earlier and managing his nap times.

Alphonse started waking up early as a result of changes in his brother Damian’s routine.

Originally, Damian would rise early every morning for dawn training, but after several incidents, his workload began to increase, and naturally, his early training was dropped. Forcing himself to get out of bed when lacking sleep was like inviting sickness, so it was the right choice.

Instead, they compensated by increasing the combined training sessions with the knights, for which reason Alphonse often saw knights lying in the training grounds moaning from exhaustion.

Anyway, that was the reason why Alphonse had secretly started rising early.

He had a desire to practice in secret where his brother wouldn’t see him, so he could surprise him later with his improved skills, but for that to happen, he needed to train away from Damian’s watchful eyes.

However, during training times, Damian was always by his side, and at other times, Maria would not let him wield or swing a sword, leaving him no choice but to practice secretly during these early hours.

Picking up a wooden sword made of dark ebony, Alphonse stepped out of his room.

At first, he walked down the corridor with a nervous heart, worried he’d be caught by someone, but now he had grown more adept and could walk silently, so Alphonse lightly moved his feet as he quickly ran toward the training grounds.

“Hehe. Success again this time!”

Boosted by the fact that he hadn’t encountered anyone on his way, Alphonse chuckled quietly.

“Light?!!”

But that joy was short-lived. As he approached the training grounds, he spotted light and hurried to hide behind a wall of the building.

The bewilderment was evident on Alphonse’s face, which had earlier been filled with confidence from his successful stealth.

If it was one of the knights who had come out for early training, it would be somewhat fortunate, but if that person were Damian, then it was highly likely that Alphonse’s secret training had been discovered long ago.

Alphonse suppressed his presence and cautiously walked towards the source of the light.

If he had already been detected, then hiding his presence like this was pointless, but there was still a good chance he hadn’t been noticed. As he got closer to the light, the outline of whoever was in the training grounds gradually became clearer.

“Huh?”

Illuminated by the lamp’s light, he could see faint aqua marine-colored hair.

The moment Alphonse saw the color of the hair, not black, he let out a sigh of relief, but as the light fully revealed the mysterious figure in the training grounds, Alphonse’s jaw dropped.

“Hailey?!”

 

---