Chapter 19

“So… we should return to my mansion now, shouldn’t we?”

As Kaiden walked toward her, he asked the question as though confirming the obvious.

Still slightly bewildered, Emilia nodded.

“I-I suppose so?”

But just as he reached her, he suddenly stopped.

His expression turned displeased.

“You’re injured?”

“Huh?”

Following his gaze, Emilia looked down.

Amid the dirt staining the hem of her skirt was a small patch of dried blood.

“Oh… You’re right…”

She lifted the edge of her skirt slightly to inspect her leg.

A long but shallow scrape ran across her knee.

She must have gotten it when she fell into the mana sinkhole earlier.

At that moment, footsteps approached again, and Kaiden quickly stopped in front of her.

As Emilia looked up at him, his face suddenly drew much closer.

Startled, her eyes widened.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

He spoke briefly before slipping one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees.

Before she could even process what he meant—

Her body was lifted effortlessly off the ground.

Emilia could only blink in disbelief.

“…What are you doing?”

“Taking you back to the mansion.”

Kaiden answered as though nothing about the situation was unusual.

Well…

Technically, he wasn’t wrong.

The scenery around them had already begun moving as he walked.

But that wasn’t what she’d meant.

“No…! The way we’re getting there is the problem!”

Emilia cried out softly, instinctively pulling her hand off his shoulder.

The problem wasn’t returning to the mansion.

The problem was that he was carrying her like a princess.

At her protest, Kaiden lowered his gaze.

Their eyes met directly.

Emilia immediately stiffened.

He’s… way too close.

She hurriedly turned her head away to avoid looking at him.

Instead, the tip of her nose brushed lightly against his shirt.

“I did say, ‘Excuse me.'”

“…You think saying ‘excuse me’ makes everything okay?”

Keeping her face turned away somehow made his voice sound even closer.

But she still couldn’t bring herself to look back at him.

She could feel his eyes resting on her.

Then his slightly crooked voice reached her ears.

“And yet you didn’t even say ‘excuse me.'”

“…What?”

A moment later, Emilia realized what he was referring to.

Her face instantly turned bright red.

“Th-That was an emergency!”

“This is an emergency too.”

“How exactly?”

“If you walk home on that injured leg, it’ll be sunrise before we reach the mansion.”

He continued calmly,

“And we won’t be able to sign the contract today.”

That finally brought up the question that had been bothering Emilia all this time.

“…Seriously, why are you so obsessed with that contract?”

Anyone listening would think his soul couldn’t rest until it had been signed.

Come to think of it…

The owner of the shop I briefly worked at in the capital fought tooth and nail to avoid giving me a contract.

Seeing the genuine confusion on her face, Kaiden let out a dry laugh.

And whose fault is it that I’ve become this obsessed?

“And besides…”

Emilia muttered quietly,

“It’s really not that serious of an injury…”

To prove it, she wriggled her injured leg.

The movement immediately deepened Kaiden’s frown.

“Would you stay still?”

“If you keep flailing around like that, I’ll drop you.”

“I’m not a fish. Don’t call it flailing.”

While Emilia was still internally offended by his choice of words, Kaiden adjusted his grip.

The movement pulled her even closer against him.

For some reason, it made her feel strangely flustered.

“I-I can walk faster.”

“I left a carriage nearby.”

“You only have to stay like this until we reach it.”

“But…”

“Just think of it as already riding in the carriage.”

He paused.

“Though I suppose it’s a rather small carriage.”

He had the audacity to describe it as small despite his own broad frame.

Clenching her fists, Emilia muttered,

“The carriage is uncomfortable.”

“In what way?”

That question forced her to fall silent.

The truth was…

Her mind was extremely uncomfortable.

Her body, however, was perfectly comfortable.

Almost as comfortable as riding in a real carriage.

…And I’m so tired.

After wasting what little energy she had left arguing with him, she felt even more exhausted.

Sensing Kaiden’s gaze lingering above her, Emilia simply squeezed her eyes shut.

Kaiden had been walking at a steady pace when he suddenly came to a stop.

The restless movements from the woman in his arms had disappeared.

Silence settled over the evening.

Only the soft sound of gentle breathing remained.

Looking down, he found Emilia peacefully asleep.

Her pale face was smudged with streaks of dirt.

One small hand had unconsciously clenched the front of his shirt.

As he watched, the faint warmth of her breath escaped through her slightly parted lips.

It tickled against him.

…What exactly am I staring at?

Coming back to his senses, Kaiden resumed walking.

He deliberately forced his gaze forward.

Still…

How does this woman keep disappearing every time I take my eyes off her?

He frowned.

Does she have some kind of wandering habit?

Did she have any idea how absurd this whole situation had been for him?

He had only casually offered to hire her as a tutor.

Yet before she had even officially started the job, he’d nearly found himself filing a missing-person report.

If it had actually come to that…

What would he even have told the authorities?

Please keep an eye on this woman.

She disappears the moment you look away.

…

No.

That somehow sounded incredibly unpleasant.

Then perhaps he should ask them to notify him immediately if anyone found her.

But if they asked what his relationship with her was…

That would be equally difficult to answer.

He recalled the middle-aged women he’d encountered earlier.

“Oh dear, your wife ran away again?”

“…Yes.”

Kaiden hadn’t denied it.

If he insisted they had no relationship whatsoever, they probably wouldn’t have told him where she’d gone.

It had been a reluctant answer.

A necessary one.

The women, who had initially been wary of him, quickly became enthusiastic once they thought they understood the situation.

As a result, Kaiden had been forced to listen to complete strangers lecture him on life, marriage, and how husbands should treat their wives.

“You should’ve treated her better. Money and status don’t mean anything if you can’t keep your wife happy.”

“Understand her feelings. If you can do that, you’re already halfway there.”

Understand her feelings…

That seemed nearly impossible.

She constantly did things he never expected.

More importantly…

He didn’t even know the first thing about her.

Why had she learned Hifrian?

What had brought her to the capital?

But he couldn’t interrogate her one question after another.

The moment she sensed too much curiosity, she’d probably forget all about becoming a tutor and disappear somewhere else.

…Well.

As long as she doesn’t run away again, that’s enough.

Kaiden let out a silent, self-deprecating laugh.

He wasn’t sure when his expectations of another person had become so modest.

Especially when it came to a woman who wasn’t the least bit curious about him.

Even so, one thing hadn’t changed.

If anything, it had only become stronger.

I need to get that contract signed as soon as possible.

His mind was already drafting new clauses.

His reason barely managed to suppress the temptation to include something utterly inhumane—

No leaving the mansion.

As soon as we get back…

Thunk.

At that moment, Emilia’s head finally slumped completely against his chest.

Kaiden paused.

…So much for signing the contract today.

With a quiet sigh, he resumed walking.