The old iron door let out a long, grating squeal—it clearly hadn’t been oiled in years.

Almost at the same moment Tislin sucked in a breath, Damian’s arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close.

“Shh.”

One hand covered her mouth while the other held her firmly against him as he pressed them into the wall around the corner from the corridor connected to the entrance. It wasn’t very far away, but it was a blind spot from the newcomers’ line of sight.

Why?

Tislin mouthed the question silently.

Through the thin fabric of her dress, she was acutely aware of the arm around her waist. Just the warmth of his body against hers was enough to make her imagine every contour.

Their bodies were pressed together without a gap.

From the cheek resting against his broad chest and shoulder to their legs half tangled together, she could feel everything. His cool, clean scent teased her senses.

She twitched helplessly.

Is he really not bothered by this at all?

She couldn’t bring herself to look up. If their eyes met like this, she thought she’d die of embarrassment. So she remained frozen, barely breathing.

Compared to her own heart pounding wildly, Damian’s heartbeat remained calm and steady. That alone told her that this closeness meant nothing special to him.

Without changing expression, Damian glanced down at the reddening tips of her ears before lowering his lips close enough for only her to hear.

“You said you didn’t want anyone finding out.”

…She had.

Having nothing to say in return, Tislin merely nodded. Even that tiny movement made her panic, wondering if it felt like she was rubbing her cheek against his shirt.

---

“What ghost would be wandering around in broad daylight? There’s nothing here.”

“As if it’s really a ghost. Somebody’s probably been secretly living here. Once we catch them, we’ll…”

The voices of chatting students grew steadily closer.

Tislin swallowed hard and instinctively clutched Damian’s sleeve.

They could hear doors opening one after another as the students checked the classrooms lining the hallway.

It was fortunate that they had hidden this far inside.

Even so, every click of a doorknob made Tislin flinch.

As the students drew nearer, however, they gradually lost interest.

“This building isn’t exactly hidden, and it’s not even abandoned. If there were really something here, the upperclassmen would’ve found it ages ago.”

“True enough.”

“Man, what a waste of time!”

Just as they were about to leave—

“Huh? Isn’t that Senior Ksanov over there?”

Tislin stiffened.

Damian’s back and side profile were reflected in the hallway window.

Fortunately, Tislin herself couldn’t be seen while hidden in his embrace…

…but if those students came any closer, they would inevitably notice her.

Apparently realizing the same thing, Damian let out a quiet sigh.

But pushing her away now would simply make both of them appear clearly in the window’s reflection.

That would be even worse.

“Why would Senior Ksanov be in a place like this?”

“Maybe he’s secretly researching sword magic techniques. Should we ask him to show us?”

The younger students whispered among themselves, deliberately lowering their voices so they wouldn’t disturb Damian Ksanov’s supposed training.

Still frozen, Tislin looked up at him as if asking, What are we going to do now?

Silence hung between them.

Then—

“…Honestly, I’m kind of scared.”

“Yeah… me too.”

“I don’t want to get yelled at for bothering him.”

“I bet he’s terrifying when he’s angry.”

Without Damian saying a single word, the students continued imagining an angry Damian Ksanov and hurriedly turned back.

Creak.

The entrance door closed again.

Only then did Tislin finally release the breath she’d been holding.

“That was close. We almost got caught.”

Checking that the door had truly shut, she smiled brightly.

As she turned back toward Damian, she suddenly remembered what the students had said.

I’m kind of scared.

Scared?

She tilted her head as she looked up at him.

People really think that?

From the time Damian had been a beautiful young boy until he had grown into the dazzling young man before her, Tislin had never once found him frightening.

“Guess you’re not very close with the younger students?”

“They’re people I’ll never see again after graduation.”

Damian answered matter-of-factly.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of humor in his voice.

It was simply the truth.

Tislin fell silent.

Students from the Kingdom—not people from Luxen.

Since he’d never see them again, he saw no reason to become close to them.

That was such a Damian way of thinking.

“…You’ve always been someone with very clear priorities.”

She had loved that about him, too.

But now, for some reason, it left a faint ache in her chest.

Don’t think about it.

“Let’s go back. If we stay out here, we might run into them again. We should finish the assignment.”

Suppressing her feelings, she turned around.

But Tislin had never been good at hiding her emotions.

Damian looked down at the top of her head.

He understood she wasn’t trying to show anything…

But it was showing so clearly that pretending not to notice was impossible.

I barely said anything. Why did she suddenly look so down?

“You have clear priorities.”

Why had that remark upset Tislin so much?

Damian quietly filed the thought away in the back of his mind.

---

* * *

Without any more small talk, they made rapid progress on their assignment.

“You write the military and geography sections.”

Without complaint, Damian pulled a sheet of paper toward himself and began writing everything they had discussed.

Aside from occasionally flipping through a few books, he hardly hesitated.

Glancing at him, Tislin took out another blank sheet and sketched a simple chart comparing the different regions of Parparnan.

She became so absorbed in drawing neat lines that she only noticed someone watching her after a while.

“…What?”

The lingering discomfort made her voice sound sharper than intended.

Damian, however, looked completely unconcerned.

Of course he did.

She was the only one who had drawn conclusions and hurt her own feelings.

For the past five years, ever since falling in love with him, she’d repeated this pattern countless times.

Falling in love alone.

Feeling disappointed over things he didn’t even know had happened.

It’s about time I got over him.

But feelings didn’t disappear just because she wanted them to.

She sighed and corrected herself.

“…Do you want to see?”

Her words were still curt.

Emotions couldn’t simply be cut off like chopping a radish.

Fortunately, Damian didn’t point that out.

“I was just curious. We don’t do things like this.”

“Really? We all do.”

Perhaps it was prejudice, but she couldn’t picture the students of the Knight Department painstakingly cutting and pasting paper decorations onto their reports.

Nodding to herself, she finished drawing the chart.

“Hold on. I’ll attach it here.”

She pasted it neatly into the report.

Damian carefully touched the corner to make sure the ink wouldn’t smear.

He looked genuinely fascinated.

“It’d be nice if reports back home included things like this too. Maybe I’ll suggest it after I return.”

“It’d take way too much effort.”

“…True.”

Looking slightly disappointed, Damian returned to writing.

He really seemed to like it.

Without realizing it, the corners of Tislin’s lips curved upward.

Get a grip. This isn’t the time.

Pressing her smile back down, she filled in her own section.

Once again, only the scratching of their pens echoed through the room.

“That’s everything, right?”

“…Yeah.”

They decided that Tislin would submit the assignment.

Since Damian couldn’t even be sure he’d be able to attend class regularly, it made the most sense.

She packed the completed report into her bag.

After sitting in one position for so long, her whole body felt stiff.

“Tis.”

“Hm? Today?”

“Today.”

When she nodded absentmindedly, Damian spoke as though pleased.

“Then let’s talk for a bit.”

Ah.

She had almost forgotten again.

She still needed to ask why he’d agreed to this engagement in the first place.

That had been the whole reason she’d come here.

If not for everything that had happened earlier, she would’ve remembered much sooner.

I got completely distracted over something so trivial!

At least she remembered now.

This time she wouldn’t let herself get swept along again.

Clenching both fists tightly, Tislin nodded with determination.

“Okay. I have something to say too—but you go first.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed, almost as if reproaching her.

“This isn’t the place for it.”

Really?

There couldn’t possibly be anywhere in the school quieter or more secluded than this.

Yet Damian dismissed the idea without hesitation and walked out of the building.

She had thought they finished fairly quickly, but the sun had already sunk halfway toward the horizon.

Time always seemed to pass faster whenever she was with Damian.

Together they crossed the deserted training grounds, now empty because it was dinner time.

Just in case, Tislin walked close behind him.

Then she suddenly froze when a familiar brick building came into view.

It was magnificent, resembling a museum or even a palace.

Its actual purpose, however, had nothing to do with its grandeur.

More importantly—

She recognized it.

“This is the dormitory!”

The very place where she’d come looking for Arkin Rudera and ended up under the scrutiny of dozens of pairs of eyes.

Since they approached from the side this time, they didn’t immediately attract the Knight Department students’ attention.

Even so, she felt as though someone might come out at any moment.

“…You’re telling me to go in there?”

She alternated her gaze between Damian and the dormitory before asking with great difficulty.

“I swear I’m asking this with absolutely no ulterior motive…”

“…We’re not going to your room, are we?”

If she was jumping to conclusions, there couldn’t possibly be a more embarrassing question.

Truthfully…

She had been curious about Damian’s room.

The servants maintained his room at the Grand Duke’s estate in Luxen.

But his dormitory room?

That was entirely his own responsibility.

What kind of things did he keep there?

Did he close the curtains?

What did the room smell like?

How could anyone not wonder about those things?

But right now—

She had absolutely no desire to satisfy that curiosity!

Even after asking, she cautiously watched his reaction.

Damian laughed.

“As if you’d have ulterior motives. The only thing you’d run away from is anything that might interfere with breaking off the engagement.”

…He had a point.

If anyone saw Tislin coming out of Damian’s room, then marriage would practically be inevitable.

That was before even considering whether she’d be thrown out of the school dormitory.

Honestly, she didn’t think Damian was enthusiastic enough about the engagement to do something like that.

Still, just thinking about it made her self-conscious.

Her gaze kept unconsciously flicking toward his face before darting away.

After a brief sigh, Damian removed the outer jacket of his Knight Department uniform and draped it over her shoulders.

Although Tislin wasn’t particularly short, it still hung all the way to mid-thigh.

“I don’t think this is going to make you any less noticeable.”

Even as she said that, she instinctively clutched the jacket tightly.

It’s better than nothing.

Maybe, at a glance, I’ll look like a female student from the Knight Department…

…Probably not.

In any case—

They really did enter the dormitory.

Tislin squeezed her eyes shut.