I quietly walked toward Zaka in the heavy silence.
As soon as I sat down beside his bed, I leaned closer and whispered,
“Why did you suddenly call me by my name like that?”
“Did you forget? You were the one who told me to call you by your name first.”
“Keep your voice down…”
I sighed.
At least his color looked much better now—that was enough for me.
“Where did you go without telling me?”
“Ah, that’s…”
When I turned to look at Friane, he immediately stepped forward as if he had been waiting.
He knelt on one knee beside the bed and reached for my hand.
It was such a natural movement that I didn’t even have time to stop him.
“Was this the other person you said was hurt?”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
Friane nodded lightly, then lifted the clean hem of his newly changed robe and began wiping the blood off my hand.
“Once I finish, I’ll take a look at him as well.”
“…All right. Thank you.”
I felt someone’s stare.
When I looked up, the Commander was watching us with a face that looked as if he had just seen something bizarre.
A bit further behind him stood Duke Gladinare.
Our eyes didn’t meet—but still, I could feel his gaze.
And the air between us suddenly grew tense.
I lowered my head again, only to find Zaka staring right up at me, his eyes sharp.
“Were you that worried about me?”
He asked that as soon as I looked down.
I tried to glare at him to warn him off, but as usual, it didn’t work.
Fine. Let him say what he wants.
“Anyway, even if you look fine, you should still get checked once more, just in case.”
When I stood up, Friane immediately took my seat beside Zaka.
“What about you, Asha?”
Zaka didn’t even glance at Friane. He just kept talking to me.
“I’m fine. But… can’t you go back to calling me the usual way?”
“Nope.”
Zaka grinned.
I crossed my arms and watched Friane quietly examine him from behind.
Then, after a moment of hesitation, the Commander finally spoke.
“Well then, Sir Izanar, we’ll be leaving now.”
Friane gave a small nod without even looking up.
The Commander didn’t seem offended by the cold response—in fact, he looked relieved as he quickly backed away.
He clearly couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
That was when I realized something:
the Inquisitor’s authority was enough to destroy any normal chain of command.
But still… was it really okay for an ordinary person like me to know who he truly was?
As I turned my head, I felt someone step closer beside me—cold and quiet.
“Do you know him?” the Duke asked, his eyes on Friane.
“Just… we happened to meet by chance,” I replied.
“…”
Normally I wouldn’t have, but something felt strange, and my eyes flicked toward the Duke.
His hands were clasped loosely behind his back—
but I noticed that the fingers were tightening, turning white from the pressure.
I quickly looked away.
I shouldn’t have seen that.
Friane stood up just then.
“How is he?” I asked.
“No serious problem,” he replied calmly.
“So he’s all right?”
“Completely fine.”
I finally breathed a sigh of relief—until Zaka called out again.
“Asha.”
In an instant, I was beside him, pressing my hand over his mouth.
“Stop fooling around, okay?”
Under my palm, I could feel him smiling.
Then his mouth moved slightly and—
“!”
I jerked my hand back, startled.
Zaka let out a breath that was half cough, half laugh, then grinned.
“Why are you so nervous? There’s no one here that you need to be careful around, Baroness.”
“…”
“If anyone should be careful, it’s them, right? You’re the one making everyone else uncomfortable.”
It was very obvious who he was talking about.
Honestly, you’re the biggest problem here, I thought.
Friane pretended not to hear and ignored him completely.
“Baroness, are you truly well?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I said quickly, worried he might try to offer holy power again right there.
“I saw a few knights who inhaled a lot of smoke during the fire. Shouldn’t you go check on them?”
“There’s no need for me to go personally,” he said flatly.
So much for trying to send him away.
Friane studied me quietly, then began speaking in that low, steady tone of his.
“The cultists enjoy breaking people from the inside—slowly weakening the mind before destroying it completely.”
“…”
“And the illegal drug spread here—it causes addiction without the user even realizing. That’s how they control their victims.”
“I understand. I’ll be careful next time.”
“You mustn’t take it lightly.”
His eyes briefly shifted toward Zaka, then back to me.
“If there’s ever something dangerous you must do, call for me instead.”
“…”
“I’ll be there to help.”
“…Thank you, really.”
“Do you remember what I told you before?”
“Um… yes.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
He smiled faintly.
Right—the promise he made before.
He’d told me to come find him once I recovered.
When things finally seemed to settle down, I glanced up at the Duke.
He was still standing exactly where he’d been, motionless.
“Your Grace,” I said softly.
He slowly lifted his gaze to me.
“Thank you for helping today.”
“I should be the one—”
His calm voice suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
For some reason, he shut his mouth again.
His dark eyes, deep as ink, stared straight at me—
and I realized I had seen that same look once before.
At the victory banquet, the very first time our eyes met.
Back then, I had just thought his gaze was cold and black.
But now… I could feel something more behind it.
The Duke finally looked away.
“You should return now,” he said quietly. “The sun’s already up. You must be tired after staying up all night.”
He wasn’t wrong.
The moment he said it, every muscle in my body started to ache.
“I’ve already arranged a carriage. You can take that home.”
His eyes flicked toward the cane I was holding.
“Do you need someone to help you?”
Immediately, Friane stepped forward.
And then, as if suddenly healthy again, Zaka got up from the bed too.
I looked at the three men surrounding me and hesitated.
“Uh… well…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Not a single word came out.
If I wanted to escape this situation smoothly, I should’ve answered immediately.
But now, if I chose one of them, things would turn awkward really fast.
Honestly, I wanted to refuse all three—but the way they were all staring at me made that impossible.
“…By the way, Your Grace,” I said at last, trying to change the subject, “do you still have business here?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I thought I should explain today’s events in detail.”
“There’s no rush. Take care of yourself first.”
“…Understood.”
Naturally, I set both hands on my cane and held it firmly.
“Then I’ll take my leave for now.”
I said nothing more and started walking toward the door, pretending nothing had happened.
What else could I do? Sometimes the best move was to act like nothing happened at all!
Zaka, walking silently beside me, gave a quiet laugh.
“You knew everything that was going on, and you still didn’t help me once?”
“I may be on your side, Baroness, but don’t count on me for things like this. I’ll never help you escape that kind of mess.”
His unusually firm tone left me speechless.
People might say I was lucky to have such attention—but honestly, it all felt fake anyway.
Now that I thought about it, all the people affected by the drug had finally gathered in one place today.
Surely this wouldn’t keep happening every time we met… right?
No way. It couldn’t.
…Could it?
One thing was clear, though:
facing all three of them at once was absolutely terrifying.
In the carriage on the way back, I asked,
“Should I tell the other two about what happened?”
“What, that there are two other people besides you who were affected by the drug?”
“Yeah.”
Zaka, sitting across from me with his arm resting on the seat, snorted.
“Do you really need to?”
“What do you mean?”
“They probably already know.”
“…Really?”
“Their reactions made it obvious. You think they didn’t notice?”
“I mean, who would ever seriously fall for me anyway?”
“…That’s not what I meant,” he said, a little flustered.
“It’s just… the timing. And the way you’re acting now—it all kind of explains itself.”
I straightened my back, curious.
“Oh, right. Speaking of that, I saw some kind of symbol at the site today…”
