Sarah laughed familiarly and threw out everything the knights pushed into the carriage.

“Uh oh!”

“No, no!”

“Just, just the blanket……!”

The knights were accustomed to grabbing what Sarah threw, but they did not stop trying to hand them over again. After putting things in the carriage for a while and throwing and grabbing it, Sarah got tired of it,

“I’m more tired now!”

and only after she cut it firmly could the knights give up with gloomy faces.

“……Fuu.”

Sarah sighed as she couldn’t even control her sneeze. If she didn’t cut it firmly like that, the carriage would be full of things thrown in by the knights. Even if it wasn’t the case, when she just added that the sun had completely set and it got a little chilly, the knights had tried to make a bonfire in the carriage. Ethan was astonished to see it, so he drove out all the knights, and Sarah put a warm preservation spell on the carriage. However, only one sneeze raised the knights’ concern again.

“This is all because of the Duke.”

Sarah made a sullen face and muttered in a voice of complaint. Then she grabbed the blanket that one of the knights had pushed in until the very end and covered herself with it. The corner of Ethan’s lips, who was looking at the sight, rose slightly.

“I’m sorry.”

There was no excuse. Ethan’s anxiety towards Sarah was the most severe. Ethan was making a fuss and covering Sarah, so the knights were also becoming more like their Lord.

“……”

In the midst of this, Sarah sighed once more as she looked at Ethan, who had properly selected only what was needed from among the things the knights had been trying to push into the carriage. In his hand, Ethan held a mug of warm water, a candied orange of Sarah’s favorite, and bitter-tasting fruits that were said to be effective against colds. Surely those were included among the things Sarah sent back out of the carriage.

“There’s a lot Sarah has to do in Alton Estate in the future, and it’s only natural that we pay special attention to your physical condition.”

Ethan said so and held out a piece of fruit to Sarah. It tasted terribly bitter, but it was a fruit made by a devilish god who said that it would blow away colds in one shot. As soon as she saw it, Sarah’s face frowned.

“I really don’t have a cold. I’m really healthy.”

“Still, there’s nothing wrong with eating it just in case you don’t know.”

Despite Sarah’s dislike, Ethan smiled very gently and firmly held out the fruit. Sarah reached out to receive the fruit Ethan offered, but he only avoided it. He was determined to put it directly in her mouth.

“……The Duke obviously hates me.”

To Sarah’s sulky voice, Ethan replied in a laughable voice.

“It’s more like I like you very much.”

“……”

Sarah’s face flushed with Ethan’s answer and her mouth opened automatically.

Is that a confession? Did I just hear his confession?

Sarah’s mind quickly became complicated.

‘He just said he liked me, right? Does he want to get married? Is it a proposal?’

Where would I spend my old age? If Claude has children, I want to raise my grandchildren with my own hands, but when Claude grows up and leads the family, I want to travel the world with Ethan……

Sarah had already dreamed of marrying Ethan and growing old together, later holding wrinkled hands and closing their eyes one day at a time. Seeing Sarah pouting her lips and saying nothing, Ethan pulled the corner of his lips together and smiled. Then he didn’t miss the gap and put the fruit through Sarah’s lips.

“……!”

In an instant, a bitter taste spread throughout her mouth. All the confusion and imagination were blown away in one shot.

“Ah, urk!”

Sarah covered her mouth with tears in her eyes. It was the fruit of the legend that if you eat this alone, you won’t catch a cold even if you’re hit by a cold wind for several days. But there was a reason why people say they didn’t want to eat this fruit even if they caught a cold. It was too tasteless and bitter and numbed the entire tongue.

‘What confession? He must hate me. He deceived me.’

Sarah wept, shuddering at the betrayal. If he really liked her, he couldn’t do this. It was clear that he had confused her with his lies to make her eat the fruit. While she was looking at Ethan with a resentful stare, he still smiled, put a sugary orange in warm water, and held it out to her.

“Drinking this will make it a little less bitter.”

“……”

Warm steam was rising from the mug that Ethan held out, and the sweet and sour orange scent was spreading softly. Sarah pretended not to be tempted, took it and drank it in a hurry. The water was not too hot and was moderately warm, so she was able to swallow it without difficulty.

“Fu……”

Only then did the taste of the fruit, which seemed to paralyze her whole mouth, calm down a little.

“Isn’t it really too much?”

“Haha.”

“Don’t laugh like that!”

Sarah pouted her lips as she looked at Ethan smiling, feeling upset. This was why she couldn’t stop thinking that the person who liked first lost. It was a truth that she learned throughout the journey to Alton Estate with Ethan. She was shaken helplessly by his small kindness and was excited by the words that contain the black ulterior motive of just embarrassing her to feed the fruit.

‘I want to shake the Duke as much as I’m swayed.’

Sarah wondered what to do to confuse Ethan as much as he shook her. Ethan took a book out of his arms only after confirming that she had chewed and swallowed the fruits and sipped sweet orange tea. Initially, he would have gone out of the carriage and joined the knights so that she could rest on her own, but she sneezed, so he seemed to intend to watch her a little longer. Sarah thought, squeezing the mug that was almost finished.

‘This is why I keep pretending to be sick.’

When Sarah said it was chilly, when she said the monsters’ blood didn’t smell good, or when she said she had a little headache, Ethan came into the carriage every time and stayed with Sarah until she was all right. In fact, she didn’t have anything wrong with her, and she didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, but she liked Ethan’s attention, so Sarah started making excuses little by little. In exchange for that, she ended up eating this devilish fruit.

“I’m sorry, I made you pay attention to me despite your busy schedule.”

“Ah.”

Ethan, who was turning the pages at Sarah’s words, raised his head and looked at her.

“There is nothing more important in this schedule than taking care of you.”

“……Thank you.”

At Ethan’s words, Sarah blushed slightly and avoided his gaze. She had deliberately asked the question, knowing he would give such a caring answer. With this Alton Estate incident, Ethan had a lot of work to do, so even when they were in the mansion, it was difficult to see his face, except for the breakfast and play time he had promised with Sarah. It was like that when he spent his time working fully in the mansion, but she thought it would be different when moving to Alton Estate. There was only one Ambrosia’s carriage. In order to maximize mobility, he decided to abandon as many carriages as possible and move. It was a choice that could be made because Sarah could solve the necessary items and luggage with magic.

‘He can do the work in the carriage.’

Even just now, Jade was rolling his feet outside the carriage, and Ethan was traveling on horseback and dealing with monsters while holding a meeting with Jade and flying and receiving countless homing pigeons. In the meantime, Ethan read his book or chatted with her in the carriage without looking at the papers, lest Sarah would notice his busy schedule. With such kind consideration, Sarah’s heart pounded several times a day.

“What do you think about moving with my magic at once?”

“I hadn’t thought of that……”

Ethan pondered for a moment, then shook his head and replied.

“It’s a little disappointing.”

“What is?”

“If Sarah arrives, you’ll be covering your face until this is done, but I don’t know when it’ll be over.”

“……?”

Sarah tilted her head to Ethan’s words, and he said with a smile.

“I can’t help it if I want to see your face and hear your voice a little more.”