Baron stared ahead with a blank expression.

No, this is different from what I expected? That thought passed through his mind.

He had assumed that the moment they met, they would either drop the act as if they had been waiting for it, or start talking about the ritual site—

“.......”

“.......”

But the two of them were simply walking.

They didn’t even head somewhere secluded.

‘They’re walking around inside the shopping district......?’

Penia and Alon were leisurely walking through the shopping district.

For over thirty minutes.

As if on a date.

No, there was no need to describe it as “as if.”

“.......”

Baron’s eyes examined the faces of Alon and Penia.

Alon was looking around the shopping district with his usual blank expression.

But rather than searching for something, it felt more like he was just scanning the area.

Well, either way didn’t make much difference, but the one beside him was different.

Penia’s gaze did not waver even slightly.

The only time it moved was when Alon’s gaze lightly brushed toward her—otherwise, it was fixed entirely on him.

Her face was stiff, as though she had made up her mind.

Fidget— fidget—

Her left hand, which stayed close to Alon, kept fidgeting.

Slide—

Penia’s left hand carefully moved toward Alon’s right hand.

If it moved just a little farther, her index finger would touch him.

But right before that—

Tap—

Her hand returned to her side again.

“Ah—”

After watching more than ten attempts over the past thirty minutes, Baron found himself completely drawn in.

Without realizing it, he let out a sigh like someone watching a drama.

“......Just grab it already—”

He muttered that without thinking, then quickly came to his senses and shook his head repeatedly.

‘No, now that I think about it, isn’t this strange? Aren’t they engaged?’

Baron instinctively tried to find something odd. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

But he soon realized that his suspicion might be close to forced.

Fundamentally, engagements and marriages among nobles were different from those of ordinary imperial citizens.

For nobles, marriage was not about love, but an extension of benefit between families.

Of course, there were exceptions, but for most noble houses, engagements and marriages were important tools.

In other words, it wasn’t strange for Alon and Penia to be giving off that kind of atmosphere.

‘So the young lady of the Colana family fell in love at first sight the moment she saw Alon?’

An engagement she didn’t want.

But the partner of that engagement turns out to be far more to her liking than expected.

However, as if by a twist of fate, the other person still has a former fiancée whose broken engagement has not been completely settled.

And because of that lingering anxiety, the young lady of Colana tries to make even the smallest effort.

“......Oh.”

Baron admired his own reasoning.

It sounded quite plausible.

......Of course, not a single part of it was actually correct.

In any case, even as Baron admired himself, he still could not erase one question.

The one walking beside Penia—Alon.

‘......Is he really that impressive?’

Baron examined Alon’s face carefully.

A decent-looking face.

But not enough to sweep women off their feet.

He found it strange for a moment, then shook his head again.

‘Don’t jump to conclusions.’

Baron composed his expression.

They looked more like ordinary academy students than intruders who had come to interfere with the ritual, but even so, he had no intention of lowering his guard.

“.......”

......Even if it didn’t look like acting, it was still possible—though hard to believe—that it was.

And besides her, there were other suspicious individuals as well.

‘I should watch the others too.’

Thinking that, Baron looked at them for a moment longer before turning away.

Unfortunately, he had things to do over the next few days.

And in the next moment—

Baron, who had been hidden in the bushes, disappeared.

And at that same point—

As he walked around the shopping district with Penia, Alon thought:

‘As expected, they didn’t prepare it right in the middle of a place like this.’

Someone might say that preparing a ritual in a crowded shopping district would be something only a fool would do, but Alon thought differently.

On the contrary, the more something needed to be hidden, the harder it was to expect if it was placed out in the open.

‘It would be good if I could at least figure out what kind of preparations they’re making.......’

Alon opened his mouth.

“Penia.”

“.......”

“Penia?”

“Ah—yes, Alon!”

Penia answered in surprise at his call.

Though her reaction was a little strange, Alon soon continued speaking as he looked around the shopping district.

“Did you hear anything from Leila?”

He asked, recalling the name of the student she had gotten close to before, the one said to be connected to the Church of War.

She shook her head.

“No, nothing.”

“I see.”

Well, it wasn’t something she could learn in just a few days anyway, so he nodded.

Tap.

Alon turned his gaze at the sensation he felt on his right hand.

What he saw was Penia’s hand, placed somewhat ambiguously against his.

It was unclear to say they were holding hands.

But also unclear to say they weren’t, since their palms were touching.

As Alon looked at her with slight confusion—

“W-We’re engaged, after all.”

Penia turned her head away as she spoke.

Alon looked at her for a moment, then—

“......That’s true.”

He properly took her hand.

Warmth filled his previously empty right hand, and he heard Penia let out a small gasp.

“Th-then let’s keep going, Alon?”

“Alright.”

At her words, Alon nodded and looked at her.

She was the same as before.

But strangely, until their patrol ended that day, Alon never saw her face directly.

Instead—

‘......Were our fingers interlocked from the start?’

At first, they had only been holding hands.

But by the time the patrol ended, their fingers had become interlaced.

That was the only thing he realized.

####

Two days later.

Just like two days ago, after finishing his classes, Alon moved to carry out another patrol.

“Rina.”

“Alon.”

Arriving at the old school building, the place they were supposed to check today, Alon met Rine, who had come early and was waiting.

“You came early.”

“Our class ended earlier than expected.”

Rine answered with a light smile.

“I feel a bit sorry. I ended up being later than expected.”

Alon said, glancing at the clock hanging on the side of the building like a streetlamp.

“Did something happen?”

“Nothing major, but—”

“So something did happen?”

“......Someone picked a fight.”

“A fight?”

Alon nodded and recalled the man who had spoken to him after class today.

‘Kadenmeyer Delgart.’

The most influential figure in Alon’s current class had recently been picking petty fights with him.

For example, today, after class, he had deliberately blocked Alon’s path and acted provocatively.

‘He’s not a child...... no, I guess he is.’

Age-wise, he was around a high school student, so he was a child.

......Though in this world, that age was practically considered an adult.

“Yeah, nothing serious though.”

“......Should I take care of it?”

At Rine’s quiet question, Alon shook his head.

It was annoying, but not something worth responding to.

‘Responding to every little thing would be exhausting.’

With that thought, Alon continued.

“Anyway, we’ll be heading back a bit late today.”

“That’s true. I felt it last time too, but the old school building is bigger than expected.”

At Rine’s words, Alon nodded unconsciously.

‘And this is only one-fifth of the academy’s total size.’

The academy itself was divided into five areas.

There was the main building and dormitories where students currently gathered.

Then the shopping district where students moved around.

Beyond that were the practice grounds and the old school building.

And among them, the old school building was so large that it was difficult to check entirely in a single day.

“......For now, let’s take it slow. If we can’t check everything today, we can continue next time.”

“Alright.”

And so, they began walking through the old school building.

“Hmm—”

It was quiet.

Occasionally, there were students using clubs, but only one or two, and they were not seen often. Scenes without students were far more common than ones with them.

“It’s quiet.”

“It really is.”

As she said that, Rine naturally looped her arm around his.

“.......”

“Hmm? Is something wrong?”

When Alon looked at her, she acted as if nothing was unusual.

At that, something from a few days ago suddenly came to mind.

Rine lightly kissing his cheek and then immediately collapsing into a groggy state.

“.......”

Why did she go that far?

That thought passed through Alon’s mind again.

“Hm-hm—”

Rine cleared her throat slightly, then opened her mouth.

“About before, Alon.”

“......Before?”

“Yes. Um...... when I, did that.......”

At her words, Alon had been about to turn his gaze back to the building, but looked at her again.

He hadn’t expected her to bring that up now.

For a moment, he was blank.

“......Ah, right.”

“Hm-hm—I looked into it a bit more, and it turns out Alon and Rina are a little different from what’s known publicly. It wasn’t that Rina was obsessed and that’s why the engagement was broken.”

“......Is that so?”

“Yes. It seems there were problems between the families.”

“I see.”

At her words, Alon nodded unconsciously.

It sounded plausible.

To begin with, many noble marriages lacked love.

For nobles, the measure of marriage was whether it brought benefit.

After roughly understanding what Rine meant, Alon spoke.

“......Then did you act like that because you found out about that?”

But he soon realized that question was somewhat foolish.

Of course, Rine could act that way based on such information.

But that was only something she personally found out; the public perception hadn’t changed.

......In other words, since only public perception mattered, there was no need to act to that extent.

“No, that’s not it.”

Rine spoke as if confirming Alon’s thoughts.

At that, the moment Alon looked at her—

“......The reason I acted like that is—”

Alon heard Rine say—

“......the Alon from the previous cycle always greeted me that way.”