Chapter 64
Please, please let Lily know where the ring is.
Please let her laugh and say, just like Kaon said, that she put it away for safekeeping.
Alesia prayed desperately, right up until Lily opened her mouth.
“Oh my, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen that ring. I thought you had just left it out that day. It’s been missing since the day you came back injured. I’ve been here since that first day, so I’m sure of it.”
“…Really?”
“Yes! Did you lose it? Oh dear, Young Master! You should take this chance to score some points by buying her a new one!”
The flickering light of hope died out in an instant.
Kaon, noticing the growing tension, gently suggested that Lily leave, saying Alesia still needed rest.
A little after Lily exited, Alesia once again threw off her blankets and rose from bed. She had moved a few times between the bath and bed, but her body was still weak and unsteady.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Move.”
Alesia spoke coldly to Kaon, who blocked her path. There was no time to waste. If she had lost the ring, it was definitely in the forest—the place where she had last used magic.
If it was in the forest, they needed to find it immediately.
Considering how long she had been bedridden, they might already be too late.
“You can’t even walk properly right now. Even if I move, can you go alone?”
“I’ll handle it. Just get out of—!”
Her anxious voice rose, but she suddenly felt unfamiliar warmth on her cheek.
Startled, she looked up to find Kaon gently cupping her face with his hand, gazing intently at her.
“I’ll find it. No matter what, I’ll find it—so please, calm down first.”
The pressure of his large hand on her cheek felt unfamiliar.
The distance between them was uncomfortably close.
Unconsciously, her body tensed from head to toe.
This kind of physical contact with Kaon—it was the first time.
But Kaon didn’t flinch, even as she froze in surprise.
He continued to cradle her face carefully, his gaze steady and unwavering.
In his eyes, Alesia saw her own reflection.
Realizing how stiff and panicked she looked, she finally came to her senses.
“What… what are you doing…?”
“You’re finally shaking a bit less.”
Just as she was about to push him away, Kaon stepped back on his own.
Alesia quickly touched the spot he had touched.
His warmth still lingered.
“Sometimes when trainees lose focus, Allain would do something like that. You know, grab them and make them look him in the eye to snap them out of it.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Alesia understand his intent.
Now that she thought about it, she did recall seeing the knight commander sometimes press down on a distracted knight’s head.
Not quite the same as cupping someone’s cheeks like that, but similar enough.
“You were shaking the whole time. You still are, a little.”
Kaon gestured subtly toward the lower part of her body.
Following his gaze, she saw her hand—bandaged and trembling slightly—beneath her arm.
She tried to hide it behind her back, only to grimace from the pain.
Her arm felt like it wasn’t even part of her body.
“So what’s your plan? How are you going to get out? How will you search? Do you think you can scale the castle gates in your condition? Let’s say you make it out somehow—what then? You think you’ll find anything in the forest in the middle of the night? If you go out carrying a lantern, you’ll be swarmed by beasts before you even worry about monsters.”
“……”
Alesia bit her dry lips.
Everything Kaon said was true.
She hadn’t even recovered halfway yet.
If she insisted on going out like this, people would start questioning it.
And even if by some miracle she managed to retrieve the ring, there was no guarantee she’d make it back safely.
Truthfully, Alesia didn’t trust herself to be that lucky.
Now that she viewed the situation rationally, it was clear how reckless she’d been.
She slumped back onto the bed.
She understood.
She knew exactly what Kaon was trying to say.
She knew how unreasonable her plan was.
She had just been so anxious that reason momentarily failed her.
But being foolish wouldn’t change reality.
So she began calmly retracing her memories.
“It was definitely then.”
She had shoved a knight aside and thrown herself into harm’s way—
And then, a heavy blow from the monster’s massive paw had sent her flying.
Her memory cut off after that.
If the ring had fallen off from the impact, it would still be somewhere around that spot.
“The scent of blood might’ve attracted beasts. What if one of them swallowed it…”
The battlefield had been drenched in blood, scattered across fallen leaves.
In such a harsh winter, when prey was scarce, beasts would never ignore the smell of blood.
A scavenger prowling for scraps could easily have found the glittering ring first.
If it had picked it up in its mouth and carried it off… that would be a disaster.
“Beasts in the eastern forest usually avoid areas where monsters have been. Even animals know how toxic that residue is.”
Kaon’s voice dropped gently onto Alesia’s head as she sat deep in thought.
She looked up sharply, and Kaon frowned at her as if to say, What kind of face is that?
“Why are you looking at me like that? You think I’m that stupid? What else would you be worrying about right now, huh?”
“Guess you’re not quite that stupid.”
“You little—!”
Kaon bared his teeth in frustration, then sighed and muttered,
“Forget it. No point fighting a patient.”
As he turned away, Alesia quietly asked,
“Can you take me with you?”
“Is that a request I hear?”
Kaon tilted his head, arms crossed, as if waiting for her to finally ask properly.
Alesia knew he would help her even if she didn’t say a word.
But seeing how he tried to ease her tension, she decided to play along.
“Yes. Please, Kaon. I really need your help.”
“…What’s this now? I thought you’d say, ‘Forget it. I’ll go alone.’”
He looked almost creeped out by how cooperative she was, which made her chuckle weakly.
“Someone promised to find it no matter what. I need to cling to any hope I have.”
“So now I’m a straw to clutch at?”
“A pretty sturdy straw?”
“…Let’s just stop talking.”
*
The two of them put their heads together to make a plan.
Kaon suggested mobilizing knights to help find the ring, but Alesia immediately refused.
Sure, the search might be faster and safer with them,
but the forest was too dangerous to justify sending knights just for a piece of jewelry.
And even if they joined with good intentions, it would still be risky.
If a monster appeared mid-search, Alesia would be defenseless without her ring.
She could blame her injuries for a while, but she couldn’t keep making excuses forever.
So they returned to square one.
In the end, they decided to act alone—just the two of them.
Kaon insisted that since he knew the forest better, he would handle the strategy, and she should follow his lead.
Alesia agreed without argument. It made sense.
“Get on.”
“…What?”
Just as it seemed their plan was smoothly underway, they hit a snag the moment they stepped out before dawn.
“I said, get on.”
Kaon extended his hands like he was about to lift her.
Alesia frowned at him.
She had already taken painkillers.
They’d be back before the gatekeepers noticed, so she could walk this much on her own.
“Why waste your energy?”
“You think walking on flat stone floors is the same as hiking through a forest?
Sure, we might find it today—but what if we don’t?
You need to conserve your strength while you can.
You can’t even open doors—how do you expect to get past the castle gates?
Can you climb the wall alone?”
“I get what you’re saying. But still—”
“I thought I was the one making the plan?”
Kaon cut her off and raised an eyebrow, daring her to disagree.
Alesia sighed and reluctantly nodded.
Immediately, a strong arm slipped behind her neck, another beneath her knees.
Before she knew it, she was off the ground.
He carried her like one would carry a cat.
It was so effortless that she couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
“If your arm was in better shape, I’d probably carry you on my back. We’ll decide that later.”
And that wasn’t the end of it.
She had assumed it’d be uncomfortable—but it wasn’t.
Kaon held her with impressive stability.
Even with one arm awkwardly supporting her back, there was no hint of unsteadiness.
“…He’s solid.”
Being in his arms made her keenly aware of Kaon’s physique.
Even through his thick coat, she could feel the strength in his body.
Of course, she had seen that body before—albeit unintentionally, and quite thoroughly.
She quickly forced the memory of that very flesh-colored spectacle out of her head.
She didn’t want to admit it, but Kaon was clearly much faster carrying her than she would be on her own.
This was her first time being carried by anyone, and also the first time she realized just how comfortable it could be.
Kaon approached the castle gate and slipped her through it first.
Then he went back inside.
He needed to return the latch to its place.
If they left it undone and a diligent gatekeeper noticed, it would cause a huge commotion.
But locking it meant the gate would be sealed.
Alesia stared at the closed gate with concern.
“…What now?”
“I’ll just jump down.”
“Are you insane?”
His voice was relaxed on the other side, but Alesia was utterly dumbfounded.
She thought, being a nobleman born and raised in Ferdinand, he’d have a clever method.
But this—this was sheer madness.
The gate was much taller than Kaon himself.
Jumping from that height meant broken legs at the very least—and more, if luck ran out.
“We’ll find out if I’m crazy soon enough.”
