Because she hadn’t expected Heraina to ask such a question, Rishi took a moment to collect her thoughts.
Heraina and Wyvern stood quietly, waiting for Rishi’s answer.
“Mother, I’ll leave it to Father’s convenience.”
“Are you sure? If I start getting comfortable, I’ll never stop.”
“By all means, please do. But Mother, you don’t have to fight on my behalf. I’ll handle the fighting.”
“Then what shall I do for you?”
“Just…”
Rishi recalled her past life, remembering how this affectionate elderly couple had been caught up in a horrific incident and perished.
She remembered how much their two sons had suffered after they were gone.
“Just stay healthy and remain by my side like this.”
Rishi said, staring straight at Heraina and Wyvern.
In some ways, it could have sounded like empty flattery. But for some reason, Heraina felt a tightness in her chest. She could feel the sincerity contained within Rishi’s violet eyes.
There are such people in the world.
People you can never warm up to, no matter how long you know them or how often you meet.
And then, there are others.
People you are drawn to the moment you see them, and with whom you feel a bond despite having barely spoken a few words.
To Heraina, Rishi was the latter.
She was fond of Rishi—someone who appeared delicate and pure yet possessed a hidden inner strength, someone whose lonely gaze turned infinitely bright whenever she smiled.
If Wyvern had seen the “eyes of a warrior” in Rishi, Heraina had discovered a “little beast that had been wounded but was trying to survive by any means necessary.”
That was what stirred Heraina’s maternal instincts.
“Rishi, I heard you received a unicorn as a gift?”
Wyvern broke the silence that had settled between Heraina and Rishi.
“Yes, but I’m not sure how to tame it…”
“Give it a name, Rishi. Things only truly exist once they are given a name.”
***
Rishi headed to the stables.
*‘A name. What should I name it?’*
She tried to come up with one, following Wyvern’s advice, but the only name that came to mind was “White.”
*‘I shouldn’t have made fun of Kay’s naming sense.’*
As Rishi prepared to enter the unicorn’s pen, the stable hand looked concerned.
“Countess. It’s dangerous.”
“It’s alright. I won’t go too close.”
“You must never go beyond the fence. Do you understand?”
Only after being warned several times was she allowed into the unicorn pen.
Inside the pen was a chest-high fence; the gate, which had been open that morning, was now firmly latched.
As Rishi entered, White pricked up its ears, and the baby unicorn approached the fence.
The baby unicorn looked up at Rishi with bright, sparkling black eyes.
It was so cute that she reached out her hand before she could stop herself.
*Slap—!*
Fortunately, she pulled her hand away before the unicorn could bite it.
*‘Goodness.’*
That was a close one.
“Little one. I won’t hurt you.”
“Hing!”
The baby unicorn snorted. It was said to be clever, so perhaps it could understand her.
The baby unicorn turned around and kicked the ground with its hind legs.
Straw and sand from the floor flew all the way onto Rishi’s dress.
“You really are mean.”
“Hiiing!”
The baby unicorn didn’t stop kicking.
Unable to watch any longer, White nudged the baby unicorn’s waist with its nose.
Only then did the baby stop, nestling into White’s side.
Mean, but cute.
“I need to give you a name. What kind of name would be good?”
She asked, knowing full well she wouldn’t receive an answer.
“How about ‘Snowy’?”
Hearing the voice from behind, Rishi turned around, a smile blooming on her face before she even realized she was doing it.
Kay had arrived behind her without her noticing.
“That name was already rejected.”
“Who came up with such a brilliant name?”
“Erwel.”
“Ah, Miss Erwel.”
Kay chuckled, as if something had just occurred to him.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Just… Miss Erwel is… no, it’s nothing.”
He was laughing while thinking of Erwel.
Thinking that made her feel unpleasant for some reason.
*Poke.*
Kay poked the center of Rishi’s forehead with his index finger.
“Why are you tensing up, Rishi?”
“I just like tensing up here.”
“I don’t think so.”
Kay wrapped one arm around Rishi’s waist and pulled her in tight. He pressed his firm thigh against her and asked slyly,
“Is it because you don’t like that I was thinking of another woman and laughing?”
“Why would I dislike that? It’s your business who you think of.”
She spoke stubbornly and tried to push Kay’s chest away, but he wouldn’t let her go.
“And yet, your lips are pouting.”
Rishi tucked her lips inward, and Kay laughed.
“Are you doing that on purpose?”
“Moing?”
Because she was speaking with her lips tucked in, her pronunciation came out strange.
“Doing something this cute. Are you doing it on purpose to make me lose control?”
“Of course not.”
“It seems like you’re doing it on purpose.”
“Can being cute even be on purpose? It’s really not…”
She tried to push his chest away again, but Kay’s lips were faster.
He pressed his lips onto hers, gently sucking on her lower lip.
Just as always, when his lips touched hers, her mind went blank.
A sweet, dizzying sensation filled the void, but Rishi barely managed to pull herself together and pushed Kay’s chest with both hands.
Kay pulled away, his forehead still resting against hers.
“Why are you resisting so much today?”
“The baby is watching.”
“The baby?”
Rishi moved her hand, pointing at the baby unicorn.
“Hahaha. The baby. Yes, I suppose that is a baby. I shouldn’t do this in front of a child. Hahaha.”
Kay laughed and let her go.
“The baby is watching…”
Kay kept repeating her words, clearly finding it hilarious.
It was strange.
He was a man who could laugh so easily.
In her past life, the Kay she knew was a man devoid of laughter. Even the smiles he wore for politeness were so cold and sharp that she felt as if she would be cut and bleeding just by standing before him.
“Don’t look at me like that, Rishi.”
Sensing her gaze, Kay said, brushing his hair back.
“I might end up kissing you in front of the baby again.”
“Never mind that. I need to name this child first; is there no one around who is good at naming things?”
“Never mind that? Is this child more important than my feelings?”
“You aren’t actually jealous of this baby, are you?”
“Why wouldn’t I be, Rishi?”
Kay stepped in, blocking the view between Rishi and the baby unicorn.
“You’ve been staring at only that child the whole time.”
“You were looking at me too.”
“It’s not enough. I want those beautiful eyes of yours to hold only me.”
“You’re quite greedy.”
Kay draped his arm over Rishi’s shoulder, turned her around naturally, and led her out of the unicorn pen.
“I’ll be away from home for a few days. Four days at the earliest, a week at the longest. I’ll be back before the wedding, so rest easy.”
She was about to ask where he was going, but a gust of wind brushed against her hair.
At that same moment, a name for the baby unicorn came to her.
“Windy.”
“Hmm?”
“I think Windy would be a good name. So that they can run as fast and as freely as the wind. How is it?”
She turned back to Kay with a bright smile, thinking it was a good name, but Kay wore a sullen expression.
“Do you not like it?”
“Would I? My husband is leaving for a distant place, and all that’s in that pretty head of yours is thoughts of that unicorn.”
“It’s a gift you gave me.”
“I didn’t give it to you so you would only think of it, Rishi. I gave it to you so that when you look at it, you would think of me.”
Kay looked so genuinely jealous that Rishi felt strange. If they were an ordinary couple, it wouldn’t have been odd, but Kay and Rishi were not ordinary.
She wanted to ask:
*‘Kay, do you actually like me?’*
But she decided not to.
What Rishi wanted from Kay was trust and camaraderie, not the love between a man and a woman.
There was nothing as futile as the love between a man and a woman. Striving for one another…
Chapter 1
Where a love that would have even given one’s life ends, only pitch-black scars remain.
In my past life, and even in death, I had witnessed such scenes countless times. Friendship was more reliable than love, and Rishi wanted friendship from Kay.
And I, too, would give Kay that much friendship.
“Where are you going?”
Rishi asked another question.
Kay erased his pouting expression and answered.
“To get a Sleeve Stone.”
“There is no need to be that hurried.”
“I am in a hurry. I want you to have sweet dreams.”
There was sincerity in Kay’s voice.
Rishi tilted her head slightly to the side and carefully stroked his cheek.
“I feel like I’m already having a sweet dream, Kay. Don’t overexert yourself.”
+++
Nathan, who was on his way to find a Sleeve Stone with Kay, finally couldn’t hold back and asked.
“Boss, did you get slapped by your wife-to-be?”
Kay had been rubbing his left cheek continuously since a while ago.
“No, I received something more intense than that.”
“Did you get kicked?”
“……Nathan.”
“That makes sense, Boss. A baby unicorn as a wedding gift… even Wallace would know that you shouldn’t give such a thing to a delicate lady like your wife-to-be.”
Nathan grumbled, but Kay didn’t pay it any mind.
Taming a unicorn wasn’t an easy task, but he believed that Rishi could do it.
He wasn’t entirely sure what Rishi intended to do, but the unicorn would become a good friend and companion to her.
-I feel like I’m already having a sweet dream, Kay.
Rishi’s voice, which he had heard earlier, pushed away Nathan’s grumbling.
Her sweet voice, her sincere eyes. And her soft touch.
He decided not to hastily put a label on this feeling—the urge to do anything to possess those things completely.
After all, if you approach a wounded beast too rashly, it is bound to run away.
+++
The quarters of the Vice-Captain of the Thesei Holy Knights in the Holy Kingdom.
Eldheart, who had returned after a long time away on an expedition, found a pile of newspapers and magazines stacked on his desk.
As Eldheart read through them, his expression grew increasingly dark.
“Eldy!”
The door flew open without a knock as Oh-Son rushed in, just as Eldheart picked up the wedding invitation buried at the very bottom.
“I heard Count Cavebrand Green got married. Did you know?”
Eldy held up the invitation.
“I was just invited.”
“Invited? But I heard they were already married.”
“It seems they registered the marriage at the government office first.”
“Wow. Even that formidable Count Green didn’t want to let the flower of the Witlow Duchy slip away. To register the marriage before even holding the ceremony… Well, for a flower of the Witlow Duchy…”
Oh-Son stopped talking mid-sentence.
It was because the look in Eldy’s eyes as he stared at the invitation was chillingly cold.
“The flower of the Witlow Duchy.”
Eldy muttered in a low, sunken voice.
“A woman the Duke of Witlow hid in his mansion and raised carefully, just to sell her off to a good family.”
“Hey, why say it like that? They say she was weak from birth, so they kept her inside because they had to be careful.”
“I wonder.”
A cold smile spread across Eldy’s lips.
“I’m disappointed in my brother. To be bewitched by a flower and bring such a woman into our family…”
The invitation crumpled in Eldy’s hand.
“So… you’re not going to the wedding?”
Eldy tossed the invitation into the trash bin.
“I have to go. And while I’m at it, I’ll break off this marriage, too.”