Chapter 67

When I arrived on Geni, the forest below where Lord Nazel and the others stood was in a terrible state.

Many trees had been ripped apart and knocked down, and even the ground had been gouged out.

It was likely Torre’s doing, though the holes in the earth might have been from Lord Nazel’s plants.

At any rate, I was glad all the suspicious individuals seemed to have been captured.

After a short while, Sir Henry, Bell, and our allied soldiers arrived from beyond the slope. They appeared to have followed after Lord Nazel’s group.

Sir Henry, lacking physical stamina, looked ready to collapse at any moment and was being carried by a sturdy soldier.

Bell was regally riding a horse-like mount that didn’t fly.

It was pure white, moved elegantly, and looked incredibly expensive. It had eight legs, just like Dunk, the beast back at our manor. Perhaps they were the same species?

The soldiers moved briskly, binding the fallen Baron and his men to transport them back to town.

Finally, the young lady who had attacked Lord Nazel was hauled up.

“Ugh…”

She seemed to be injured, limping as she favored one leg.

Though she followed the soldiers’ orders obediently, she lost her balance and sank to her knees on the ground.

“A-Are you okay?”

I hurried to her side to check her leg and saw that the ankle she had been protecting was severely swollen. It looked incredibly painful.

“Is it a sprain, perhaps?”

If so, descending the mountain path would be difficult for her.

“Um, I’ll take this person back to town on my wyvern.”

When I made the suggestion, the soldier escorting her looked troubled.

“But we can’t have the Lady of the Territory transporting a criminal.”

“Her magic causes her hair to grow into dangerous thorns. Geni and I can carry her without getting hurt.”

“Th-Thorns!?”

This soldier hadn’t witnessed the sequence of events and seemed unaware of the girl’s hair.

Out of concern for me, he was hesitant to hand her over.

Then, Lord Nazel, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward.

“Agnes, in that case, I shall carry the young lady. If anything were to happen to you, I could never forgive myself.”

“But…”

As I hesitated, Torre followed Lord Nazel over.

“Lady Agnes, Lord Nazelbart. I will carry Lilianne! She is my fiancée, after all!”

My jaw dropped.

I was pretty sure I had just heard something incredible.

As he had told me himself before, Torre had suffered a heartbreak before coming to the Sutrena territory.

The person in question was supposed to be his fiancée.

For a while after Torre first arrived at the frontier, I would occasionally spot him doing muscle training while crying his eyes out.

Torre was calling Lilianne his fiancée, but surely that engagement must have been officially broken off by now, right?

To think that the woman right in front of us was that very person—I had no idea what was going on anymore.

“Please! Lady Agnes!”

Hearing Torre’s forceful plea made me waver.

“Alright. But just to be safe, I’ll cast the ‘Physical Reinforcement’ charm on you too, Torre.”

I applied the same reinforcement magic to Torre as I had for Lord Nazel.

“Thank you, Lady Agnes. Now, I’ll be taking her back!”

Torre hoisted Lilianne up effortlessly and began to march away.

Lilianne was clearly flustered, saying things like “Wait!” and “Put me down!” along the way…

…But he just kept going.

“Um, Lord Nazel… shall we head back as well?”

“Right, Agnes. I’ll carry you too.”

“H-Huh? Eek!”

And so, for the distance it took to reach Geni, I was carried along by Lord Nazel.

What’s more, it wasn’t a bridal carry—it was a face-to-face hold.

It was twice as embarrassing as usual!