It happened during a winter when Tislin Ermiz was only eight years old.

By a fortunate turn of events, Count and Countess Ermiz were invited to attend a hunting gathering hosted by the Grand Duke of Luxen.

Leaving their only daughter in the care of her nanny, they devoted themselves to attracting the attention of the nobles at the hunt.

Unfortunately, their efforts yielded little.

While the adults were away hunting, eight-year-old Tislin slipped away from her drowsy nanny’s watchful eye and began wandering around the Grand Duke’s villa on her own.

The sprawling mansion, built in the secluded architectural style of the northern territories, was the perfect place to spark a child’s curiosity.

Rolling from room to room without a care, Tislin eventually wandered all the way down into the underground wine cellar.

She had mistaken the staircase for a secret passage.

“Oh… wow…”

The cellar was lined with enormous oak barrels and filled with a smell unlike anything she had ever encountered before.

It made her head feel just a little light.

Standing on tiptoe, Tislin patted a few of the barrels she could barely reach as she ventured deeper inside.

Then—

She heard something strange.

Hic… hic…

A faint sound.

Like a small child crying.

It’s not a ghost… right? Then again, our family’s great-great… or maybe great-grandfather’s portrait is supposed to walk around at night…

No, there aren’t even any portraits here.

The spooky bedtime stories her nanny used to tell suddenly came flooding back.

Although her body trembled, her stubborn pride refused to let her run away.

She marched deeper into the cellar.

It was dark and cold.

Aside from the massive barrels, there was nothing to see.

If she hadn’t been thinking about ghosts, she probably would’ve left after a quick look.

But Tislin didn’t want to be a coward.

So she kept going.

Hic… hic…

The crying grew louder.

She could even hear someone breathing.

I wasn’t imagining it.

Her short legs came to an abrupt stop.

“W-Who’s there? Is someone here?”

She deliberately shouted as loudly as she could.

Her voice echoed through the cellar, sounding much grander than it really was.

Feeling encouraged, Tislin puffed out her chest and tried to make herself look bigger.

Then—

“I-I am! Adel’s here!”

Someone answered.

There really was someone.

Tislin nearly collapsed on the spot.

If she hadn’t been stubbornly keeping up her brave act—even though no one was watching—she probably would’ve burst into tears like a baby.

“W-Where are you? Who are you?”

“I’m Adel! Adel’s here!”

Listening more carefully, she realized the voice belonged to a very young child.

The words were short, clumsy, and slightly slurred.

As someone who was already well past counting her age on one hand, Tislin tried to sound as grown-up as possible.

“Where’s ‘here’?”

“I don’t know! It’s dark!”

“Are you a baby?”

The child fell silent.

Definitely a baby.

Tislin softened her voice.

“Baby, clap your hands.”

“I’m Adel…”

The little one protested timidly.

Even so…

Clap, clap.

Tiny hands obediently applauded.

Tislin followed the direction the sound was coming from.

The echo made it difficult, forcing her to wander back and forth for quite a while.

Still, it paid off.

Soon the child’s voice and clapping became much clearer.

As they searched for one another, they happily chatted about all sorts of things that adults would have considered completely meaningless.

“I’m Tis. Baby, I’ll rescue you soon.”

“Okay! Hurry and rescue me!”

Now the child didn’t even mind being called “baby.”

Tislin crouched down with a serious expression and pricked up her ears.

“Baby, punch the wall really hard.”

“Punch it? I can’t. I’ll get scolded.”

“It’s okay right now. It’s just the two of us.”

The plan failed.

The baby’s tiny fists were far too weak.

Instead of loud thuds, they made barely audible little taps.

As Tislin circled the room, wondering why she still couldn’t find the child, a realization suddenly struck her.

There are only oak barrels down here.

Could the baby be inside one of them?

“Baby, are you in here?”

She knocked on one barrel after another.

“No!”

“No!”

“No!”

Each time the answer was the same.

Then she reached the sixth barrel.

The child’s voice sounded much louder.

Tislin stomped her foot excitedly.

“Baby, you’re in here!”

“I’m here!”

Tiny fists knocked excitedly from inside.

Looking closely, she noticed a small hole near the bottom of the empty barrel—just large enough for a little child to crawl through.

The child had crawled inside…

…and gotten stuck.

“I’ll give you my hand.”

The opening was slightly higher than the floor of the barrel.

Tislin stretched out her hand and waved it around until the little child felt around blindly and grabbed it.

“I got you!”

“Now come out.”

It wasn’t nearly that easy.

After more than ten exhausting attempts, the barrel finally tipped over—

—and the child tumbled out.

She learned later that the barrel had been enchanted so wine wouldn’t spill if it fell over.

Neither child knew that at the time.

They were simply delighted by their successful rescue.

Laughing happily, they hugged each other and jumped up and down.

“Oh dear, your clothes are all dirty. Let’s go back upstairs.”

Although the little child got tired halfway up the stairs and had to sit down because their legs hurt…

…the two adventurers safely returned to the sunlit villa.

And when they did—

The entire estate was in chaos.

“Lady Adelind! Thank heavens! Someone fetch His Grace immediately! We’ve found Lady Adelind!”

A noblewoman with cold, sharp eyes burst into tears as she crushed the child in a desperate embrace.

Little Adelind only blinked in confusion before awkwardly patting the woman on the back.

Meanwhile, Tislin stood frozen, overwhelmed by the sudden commotion.

A short while later, it wasn’t the Grand Duke who arrived.

Instead…

A beautiful boy, nearly two head taller than Tislin, appeared.

He looked to be around twelve years old.

The moment he spotted Adelind, he dropped to one knee without hesitation.

“Adelind… where on earth have you been?”

“…I was looking around the house… then I climbed inside a barrel… and couldn’t get out.”

“…Then Tis gave me her hand… and I came out.”

The boy turned toward Tislin, who still stood frozen in place.

Meeting his eyes…

Tislin thought they looked exactly like the sapphire necklace her mother treasured most.

That was the first meeting between Tislin Ermiz and Damian Ksanov.

---

After that…

Nothing particularly dramatic happened.

For some reason, Adelind became completely attached to Tislin after that day.

Every summer and every winter, she cried until Tislin was brought to Luxen.

The Grand Duke had a soft spot for the tears of his orphaned granddaughter.

And Count and Countess Ermiz had no intention of wasting such a valuable opportunity for their daughter to grow close to the Grand Duchess of Luxen.

As a result, Tislin spent two months every summer and two months every winter at the Grand Duke’s residence.

Four months every year.

And wherever Adelind Lux was…

Damian Ksanov was always nearby.

Having displayed extraordinary talent as a Magic Swordsman from a young age, Damian had become the disciple of Grand Duke Armart Lux.

His training kept him extremely busy.

Even so…

At least once every day, he always stopped by to visit Adelind and patiently listened to all of the little girl’s complaints.

Having lost her parents, Adelind depended on the Grand Duke’s young disciple as though he were her own older brother.

And Damian always did his best to live up to that trust.

Young Tislin never questioned why.

To her…

It simply seemed natural.

---

* * *

“Damian, tie my hair.”

“Braid both sides.”

Hands roughened by relentless training skillfully braided Adelind’s hair.

Damian had never been particularly gifted with handicrafts.

But after practically helping raise little Adelind, tying ribbons and weaving flower crowns had become second nature to him.

In no time at all, two adorable braids were finished.

Adelind admired herself in the mirror, bouncing up and down with delight.

Twelve-year-old Tislin smiled as she watched the seven-year-old giggle happily.

“Wow, Adel. You look pretty. It really suits you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re super cute.”

“Then Tis should do it too!”

“Huh?”

“Damian, do Tis’s hair too!”

Although Tislin and Damian were connected through Adelind…

They never became especially close.

Sometimes Adelind would insist they all play together.

Even then, both of them were more focused on looking after Adelind than spending time with each other.

So even after years of knowing one another…

Their eyes rarely met.

“Sit down.”

Damian never had any intention of refusing Adelind’s request.

Tislin reluctantly sat.

…

When he finished braiding her hair with the cute ribbons Adelind had been wearing…

Tislin looked at herself and thought she resembled an adult wearing a little child’s clothes.

It looked adorable on Adelind…

Why does it look ridiculous on me?

Her dissatisfaction showed plainly on her face.

“Wow! Tis looks just like me!”

“Mmm…”

“You don’t like matching me?”

Adelind’s face immediately fell.

Without missing a beat, Damian spoke.

“Why not? It suits you.”

It was complete nonsense.

Not a shred of sincerity in it.

When Tislin shot him a glare, Damian quietly looked away as if he hadn’t noticed.

Fortunately…

Unlike Damian, who usually had only two choices when dealing with Adelind—give in to her stubbornness or make her cry—

Tislin knew how to negotiate.

“I’m older than you, Adel.”

“So we shouldn’t look exactly the same.”

“This hairstyle is only cute on you.”

“But I want to match Tis…”

“No. Wait a second.”

Tislin undid the tightly woven braids before sitting back down.

“Do it again.”

“But loosen them this time.”

“Do it again!”

Damian braided her hair once more.

Whenever he accidentally pulled too hard, Tislin would cry,

“Gently!”

Then Adelind would excitedly imitate her.

“Gently!”

Completely focused on her hair, Tislin never noticed the faintly sulky expression on the boy standing behind her.

“There.”

This time, although it was still twin braids, they were woven more loosely and hung lower.

They looked much more mature.

Twelve-year-old Tislin was satisfied.

Adelind was satisfied too, happy that their hairstyles were similar.

“So Adelind actually listened for once…”

Damian, for his part, was simply pleased to discover that there was at least one person capable of persuading Adelind to give up on something.

That was the kind of relationship they had.

While Tislin stayed in Luxen, the two of them practically helped raise Adelind together.

Perhaps that created a sense of camaraderie between them.

Or perhaps not.

Either way…

Their acquaintance had lasted for over ten years.

No one could say they were strangers.

---

At the age of seventeen, Tislin entered the Royal Academy.

Since she now had to attend school, she could no longer spend four months a year in Luxen as she once had.

She assumed her relationship with the Grand Duke’s family would naturally grow distant.

But only for a short while.

In June of that same year, after the pacification of southern Parfanan was finally completed…

Damian Ksanov was ordered by the king to enroll in the Royal Academy and transferred into the Knight Department.

And so…

The two of them ended up attending the same school.