I blinked.
“…You’re joking, right?”
Elhardt stared straight at me without any intention of backing down.
“I like you regardless of the circumstances. I’ve been sincere about it all along.”
Right. I understood.
There was no way I could brush this off as a joke.
“……”
Not knowing what to say, I remained silent, and he gave me a bitter smile.
“But just because I feel this way doesn’t mean I should force you to feel the same.”
‘And it probably isn’t possible, anyway.’ he added in a low voice.
Looking at Elhardt, who suddenly seemed dejected, made my chest ache as though it were being pricked.
“Then…”
I finally managed to speak.
“For now… let’s make it a fake marriage.”
“……!”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward me at once, including Elhardt’s.
“Oh…”
“Gasp… Are you serious, Captain?”
“A fake marriage? This is such a cliché!”
…What was a cliché? Young people these days were so difficult to understand.
I widened my eyes and spoke emphatically to the frozen Elhardt.
“It’s a fake marriage. We’re not actually getting married. But you’re right that it really is a fairly good method.”
“Th…”
Elhardt quickly composed his cracked voice and nodded.
“I understand.”
…His demeanor was perfectly calm, but the redness at the tips of his ears spread across his face and down his neck in an instant, making my own face feel hot just looking at him.
“Even if it’s only a fake marriage, being able to stand by your side makes me very happy.”
I watched the smile on his lips for a moment before turning away.
“We still have some time before returning to Bardia, so let’s prepare thoroughly to avoid making any mistakes.”
Where we first met, how we fell in love, and how we eventually got married.
We would have to coordinate our stories to prepare for all the questions that would come our way.
“But, Captain, won’t someone recognize you? There were so many portraits of you painted and preserved.”
Rick answered Kay’s concern.
“You don’t need to worry about that. Not a single portrait from that time remains.”
I was somewhat bewildered by his explanation.
Caleb, who had ascended to the throne after Mikhail’s abdication, had apparently collected and removed every portrait of me that remained in the royal palace for some reason.
On top of that, he had even ordered every description of my appearance in the historical records to be erased.
Was there really a reason to erase every trace of me so obsessively?
“Then, Prince, what made you suspect the Captain’s identity?”
“That…”
Elhardt took a pendant from inside his clothes and showed it to us.
“This was about half the reason. It contains a portrait of Ser.”
“Huh…? That…”
“Do you recognize it?”
I nodded.
“I gave it to Mikhail for his birthday.”
“……As I thought.”
“Where did you get it? Was it kept in the royal family’s possession?”
“Yes. I found it in the treasury.”
“Can I see it for a moment?”
After hesitating briefly, Elhardt slipped the pendant back inside his clothes.
“No.”
“Huh…? Why?”
“…There’s a reason.”
Elhardt avoided my gaze, and Rick clicked his tongue softly.
That guy seems to know something. I’ll have to ask him quietly later.
“The other half must have been because of the Captain’s behavior as well. Like using magic or a spatial bag.”
“That’s right.”
Elhardt nodded.
“Regardless of what magic was like three hundred years ago, those were remarkable things by the standards of magic in this era.”
“The other expedition members are probably the same as the Captain. They still haven’t fully adapted to this era.”
I agreed when Kay said it would take some time.
“The problem is that I don’t know what the problem is.”
“Prince, please help the Captain in every way you can. She never experienced anything resembling an ordinary life even three hundred years ago…”
“Kay, it wasn’t that bad.”
“It absolutely was.”
Unfair.
I had been living a relatively normal life here, too.
“I understand what you mean. I’ll do my best.”
After that, we spent a long time discussing how we would move around the Imperial Palace, how we would support one another, and how we would accomplish our goals.
Rick and Bella, who had a thorough understanding of the current political situation in the empire, were a great help.
“I’m also planning to stay in the Imperial Palace for the time being. I should at least be able to serve as a distraction.”
“Thank you, Carthaeus.”
In truth, it was safe to say that Carthaeus had nothing to do with Bardia in its current state.
He probably wanted more than anything to remain in the Holy Kingdom and guide the Church back onto the right path as quickly as possible.
Perhaps because we had spent so long together as an expedition party, he couldn’t bring himself to treat our affairs as someone else’s problem.
At my words of thanks, Carthaeus patted me on the back.
“If I stay any longer, people will grow suspicious, so I’ll be off.”
“Take care of yourself. And try to tone down that temper of yours.”
He laughed heartily instead of answering, which made me slightly uneasy, but he would probably manage on his own.
There was no one in the expedition party with more life experience than Carthaeus, after all.
After seeing Carthaeus off, I entered the building, only to hear Elhardt and Rick talking from the other end of the hallway.
They seemed to be keeping their voices as low as possible, but…
“First love arriving this late in life really is terrifying.”
“…Was I really that embarrassing?”
“It was just… a little shocking.”
I pretended not to see them and returned to my room.
You weren’t embarrassing at all, Elhardt.
I was simply amazed that his attitude toward me hadn’t changed at all after learning who I really was.
How could someone do that?
I thought his courage and conviction were incredible.
I find this so difficult.
It felt like I had come up against the greatest challenge of my life.
Even when facing demons that resurrected endlessly, I don’t think I had ever been this confused.
Is it because this is my first time?
I had lived my entire life without the slightest interest in romantic love between men and women.
Was that why I was so inept at understanding my own feelings?
I didn’t dislike Elhardt constantly closing the distance between us, yet I kept taking a step back.
This is troublesome.
I pressed my palm firmly against the left side of my chest, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.
“Ser.”
When I looked up at the voice calling my name, I saw Elhardt standing in front of me.
I had been sitting on the bed, and without hesitation, he knelt before me so that our eyes were level.
“Have I made you uncomfortable?”
His question felt as though he had read my thoughts, making me flinch for a moment, but I pretended not to notice.
“Hm? I don’t know…”
It was true that I felt troubled, but that wasn’t Elhardt’s fault.
It was mostly because I was particularly inexperienced in this area.
I couldn’t readily accept his feelings, but I couldn’t clearly reject him either. I was probably the one tormenting him by leaving him in such uncertainty.
“If you dislike me or feel burdened by this, tell me now. I’ll find another way.”
Another way.
Come to think of it, a fake marriage wasn’t the only way I could conceal my identity while supporting Elhardt.
It was simply that I wanted to minimize the amount of time I spent away from him, and there weren’t many options that would allow me to do that.
“…Come to think of it, that’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Why did I think I needed to stay by your side?”
At my muttered question, his eyes widened.
“You’re not someone who needs my protection.”
Perhaps that had been true at first because I didn’t know any better, but now I knew the truth.
There were very few beings capable of harming Elhardt.
Even something like compound poison could probably be dealt with much more effectively by people like Kay or Rick, who came from an intelligence background.
Unlike at the beginning, I was now fully aware of that fact.
And yet I still…
Rather than looking for a more efficient way to move forward, I was still searching for excuses.
“No.”
Elhardt hurriedly took both of my hands in his.
“I do… need protection. Definitely.”
“You?”
At my doubtful question, he quickly nodded.
“Do you remember the day we first met? If it hadn’t been for you, Ser, I would have been beaten to death by that traitor.”
“……?”
Beaten to death?
Hadn’t his injuries healed without leaving a trace after just a few minutes back then…?
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