For The First Time

I instinctively turned my face away.

Showing her this pathetic expression right now somehow felt… pathetic.

But Nadja didn’t allow that kind of indulgence.

She grabbed my cheek and tugged my face back toward her.

“Woody, look at me.”

“Nadja…”

Her strong eyes locked onto me and wouldn’t let go.

In the depths of those sparkling red eyes, I saw my own weak self, shrinking in on itself.

“Woody, I know what you’re worrying about. I’ve heard what’s going on with the elves.”

“Yeah…”

“You want to help them, don’t you?”

“Of course. If I were just a commoner, I think I would’ve gone to the elf settlement without overthinking it.”

At Nadja’s words, I hesitated for just a moment… then nodded firmly.

I wanted to be of help to the elves.

Because if someone was suffering, I believed it was only natural to help them.

“Then you should help them. Most of the time, you regret it less when you do what you truly want to do.”

“But if I do that, I don’t know what Father and the others will do. And because of it, I might cause trouble for everyone…”

“I think I understand, at least somewhat, what you’re struggling with.”

Nadja let go of my cheek, and together we looked out over Tree Village at night.

Because this place sat on high ground, I could see the villagers’ faces clearly.

They laughed together, grateful that the day’s work was done.

If I were transferred away from this village, their smiles would almost certainly cloud over.

Just thinking that made any impulse to act recklessly vanish in an instant.

“Woody.”

“What is it, Nadja?”

“Rely on me more.”

I turned my head without thinking.

Like me, Nadja was watching the villagers.

Her profile was as beautiful as a goddess engraved on a coin.

Even though she wasn’t looking at me, I could somehow feel her trust.

Maybe this was what people meant by being on the same wavelength.

In the same way, maybe Nadja saw right through what I was thinking.

“That’s… not fair.”

“Not fair? I’m your fiancée.”

“Father annulled the engagement, so officially we’re no longer engaged.”

“Then marry me and it’s all solved. Right, Woody?”

“M-marry…?”

I tried to laugh as I looked at Nadja, but her face was serious.

This was clearly not a joke.

She meant it.

Why did she care about me this much?

It made me wonder whether I was really someone worthy of Nadja’s unwavering devotion.

‘Come to think of it… I’ve never told Nadja how I feel.’

When I thought back, I realized we’d never really had a serious conversation about the two of us.

If we did, it would inevitably lead back to my family, and I suspected we’d both been avoiding that without even realizing it.

I had probably been taking Nadja’s kindness for granted.

I had barely considered what she felt, or what she’d been worrying over.

Now that I thought about it, I didn’t even really know what had driven her to chase after me in the first place.

Even someone as dense as me could tell she didn’t hate me, at least.

She had come here after slamming a Letter of Severance down on her family.

If I thought about it even a little, I could understand how immense that resolve must have been.

“Knowing you, Woody, you were probably thinking through everything alone again. I’ve thought this for a while, but you have a bad habit of carrying everything by yourself. It’s not good—seriously, it’s not good.”

“Yeah… maybe you’re right.”

Maybe because her sincere words reached deep into my chest, I found myself able to say what I truly felt.

“…Hey, Nadja.”

“What is it, Woody?”

“—I love you.”

“…W-w-whaaat?!”

Nadja, who had been so dignified telling me to rely on her, instantly became like a broken doll.

Muttering incomprehensible words and moving stiffly, she looked like a completely different person from a moment ago.

Seeing her like that, I realized there was a part of me that found it adorable.

And looking at her again like this, I thought—

Yeah. I really did love Nadja.

If I could live together with her, I felt like it would be a very happy life.

I stepped closer to Nadja, whose face had turned bright red like a boiled octopus.

Then I kissed her on the cheek as her eyes darted around.

“Nadja, let’s do our best together. We’ll help the elves, and I’ll keep being the lord here too. It might be a hard road, but if it’s the two of us, I’m sure we can do it.”

“…Kyuu…”

The step I’d taken with courage, though, seemed far too intense for Nadja.

The person I loved—who had endured even a Tycoon Wolf’s strike—lost consciousness, still beet-red.

I caught her before she could fall and laid her down in the shade.

Even when I put a towel under her neck as a makeshift pillow, the height didn’t feel stable, so I decided to let her rest with her head on my lap.

I used a Water Muscat from the Harvest Bag to wet a handkerchief and placed it on her forehead.

Maybe it helped—her expression softened a little.

“Good work, Woody-sama.”

As I let out a breath, I realized Aira was suddenly beside me.

Aira kept a perfectly calm face and said, as if it were nothing,

“I don’t expect to defeat Nadja. —I’m fine being a concubine.”

“…Y-yeah. Okay.”

Her sheer naturalness made me answer before I even realized it.

Honestly, I didn’t know what else I could have said.

“Of course, I’ve already received Nadja’s permission in advance.”

“W-wait, you did?!”

I hadn’t expected things to move that fast, so I jolted in surprise.

Nadja made an uncomfortable expression, so I hurriedly calmed down and gently stroked her hair.

“I see… Nadja and you, Aira—you’ve both been thinking things through.”

“Yes. Once a woman makes up her mind, she’s strong.”

Of course I loved Aira too.

There was no way I could dislike someone who had even submitted her resignation just to follow me, not knowing what the future would hold.

Aira looked at me and moved closer without making a sound.

“Woody-sama, I adore you. I’m giving up on being your legal wife, so…”

After saying only that, she… stole my lips—while I was stuck, unable to move because Nadja’s head was on my lap.

“His first kiss is mine. Don’t worry—of course I also… it’s my first time.”

“…”

It was so sudden I lost my words, and all I could do was look up at Aira.

Aira, looking down at me, smiled softly.

She was more alluring than I had ever seen her…

And once again, I couldn’t say a thing.