Though somewhat unprepared, she wasn’t foolish enough to openly run down the middle of the road. It would be like advertising, “Catch me, monster!”

Carinne kept a watchful eye on her surroundings, constantly scanning back and forth. Then, keeping her body half-hidden in the bushes at the edge of the road, she continued forward at a brisk pace.

After walking for about 15 minutes, as the coachman had said, she saw the wrecked carriage in the distance. Archen was also there, looking inside the carriage. He bent down to examine the interior of the wrecked carriage. He circled the carriage and then noticed Carinne approaching him.

“Princess? How did you get here?” He looked at Carinne with a dumbfounded expression. “More importantly, did you break the spell? How on earth did you…”

“There’s always a way. Anyway, it’s Iris I’m looking for, not anyone else. Iris is my best friend.”

By then, Carinne had reached the wrecked carriage.

“So I’m going too. I’ve already made up my mind, so don’t try to stop me.”

She looked inside the carriage, wondering if there were any traces that Archen might have missed, but all she could see was the settled dust. Could Iris have escaped the monster? Surely she wasn’t bitten.

No, that wouldn’t be it. If she had been bitten, there would have to be bloodstains.

As she was gathering her thoughts and getting up, Archen said firmly, “No. Go back. It’s dangerous outside.”

“If you’re going, take me too.”

There was absolutely no way she was letting Archen go alone. He should realize that soon enough.

Carinne retorted with a firm tone and scanned the area around the carriage. There were footprints on the dirt floor leading to the stream. Judging from the size and width of the footprints, they were definitely Iris’s. Judging from the increasingly wide strides, it seemed that Iris had run away to escape the monster.

“Iris must have gone to the stream. We can meet her if we follow the footprints. Let’s hurry.”

“Didn’t I tell you it’s dangerous? I can’t go with the Princess. Please return to the mansion.”

Was he still saying no? She was starting to get annoyed. She hadn’t liked being tied up on the sofa while he went off on his own, and now he was just repeating like a parrot, telling her to go back. Moreover, Iris’s life or death was uncertain at the moment. They needed to hurry to save Iris’s life, but instead of saying let’s go, he was telling her to go back.

“Hurry up. Iris might be being chased by the monster.”

“I’ll escort you back to the mansion.”

But Archen ignored Carinne’s words.

“Are you going to tie me up again? It’s no use. I’ve learned how to get out.” She felt a little hurt at being ignored. Carinne retorted in a loud voice, “And I’m not a child. You don’t need to treat me like a seven-year-old.”

She meant it sincerely, but Archen ignored her again.

“This time, I’ll tie you up with two layers. I’ll tie you up so tightly that you won’t be able to untie it again.”

He seemed a little angry.

Oh, who do you think is angry?

Carinne braced herself and stood firm.

“Then take me wherever you want to go. You’ll have to use some force if you want to take me to the mansion.”

She was really upset that he had ignored her twice. He want to tie me up with two layers? Go ahead and try. She’ll never let him drag her away.

She planted her feet firmly on the ground, and Archen roughly swept his bangs up. His eyelashes cast deep shadows on his eyes, and his lips parted as he let out a soft groan. Finally, he broke the silence and spoke, “You’re always like this, Princess.”

Carinne doubted her ears.

“What?”

“You’re always so self-willed.”

“….”

She was speechless. She hadn’t expected Archen to say such a thing. She was not only upset but also embarrassed. Not the unlucky Duke Lucas, not the clueless Iris, but Archen of all people was calling her self-willed!

It felt like being hit in the back of the head by a trusted comrade. She could almost hear Caesar’s words before he died, ‘Et tu, Brute!’

Carinne stepped back and almost fell over. Then she twisted her ankle and cried out in pain. It was the same ankle that had been sore since she escaped the circle of light earlier. Now that she had twisted it, the pain was considerable. Not wanting to show her pain, she stood unsteadily with her weight off her ankle, and Archen’s gaze fell on her ankle.

He knelt down and cupped her ankle. White light shimmered around her ankle. Soon, a warm feeling spread, and the pain in her ankle disappeared.

It all happened so quickly that she didn’t have time to say anything. Carinne stared at his fingers blankly before coming to her senses. What Archen had done to her ankle, it was healing magic.

“I told you to ask my permission before using it!”

“Since you do as you pleases, I will do as I please as well.”

It was a cold voice. He didn’t look at Carinne as he rose from his seat. Then, in a cold tone again, he said, “Follow me if you want. I won’t bother with you anymore.”

What did he just say? It was absurd. Who asked him to bother with her?

“Who are you talking to? I’m going to bother Archen too.”

He started walking quickly towards the stream, so Carinne followed him. She kept a certain distance between them. He didn’t look back the whole time he was walking, acting as if there was no one following him. Seeing that, she felt a little sad. No, very sad.

‘This is all for whose sake…’

Following Archen was partly due to wanting to find Iris, but also because she was worried about him. He didn’t consider his own physical condition when using magic. At first, he was reluctant to use magic, but once he started using it, he tried to solve everything with magic.

Carinne had seen this more than once. It was the same on the day he caught the thief, the day of the witch hunt, and even today. Not only did he shoot the monster twice with a beam of light, but he also used magic to tie her to the sofa. So, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t use magic when there was a problem on the way to meet Iris. Carinne intended to help him refrain from using magic while she was by his side.

Of course, if she followed him, she would have one more person to watch over, which meant there was a risk that he would use magic even more.

However, Carinne was confident that she wouldn’t cause any trouble. She just had to be careful not to make unnecessary noise or poke around in strange places.

She also knew where the monster’s weak points were from watching Archen kill the monster. If the same situation as before arose, she could just stab the monster’s head with her knife. That’s why she even brought a knife.

‘But why are you talking back? Since I do whatever I want, he’s going to do whatever he want too?’

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Moreover, he said that she was ‘always’ acting on her own. That means he thought she was acting on her own even before.

When he said he loved her, liked her a lot, was he always thinking that inside? Why didn’t he say anything before? Why did he keep it to himself?

A sense of betrayal and annoyance welled up inside her.

On the one hand, she thought, ‘Why are we arguing about this? Should we try to resolve it through dialogue?’

But her wounded pride choked her throat.

It seemed like they had been walking for about 20 minutes. Considering the possibility that Iris might have fallen to the side, she scanned both sides of the road, when she heard the clang of swords in the distance.

As she hurried around the corner, she saw two monsters and a man swinging his sword at them.

The man moved nimbly, avoiding the monster’s front legs and striking down at its head. With that, one of them fell with a thud. His black hair flew as his blood-red eyes flashed, and then the remaining monster also fell with a thud.

The man, who had killed the two monsters in an instant, caught his breath and then stared at them.

Carinne, on the other hand, frowned. The person she was looking for was gone, and this brat was here instead. This unlucky kid who kept bumping into her, Lucas the Duke, gracefully sheathed his sword.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t you hear that there are monsters roaming around outside?”

“I told her, but she wouldn’t listen,” Archen replied curtly.

Oh, so that’s how he’s going to be. Well, she won’t just sit here and take it.

“In this day and age, there are still people who treat adult women like children?” Carinne started to add, “You don’t even listen when people are being serious,” but she stopped.

Duke Lucas was looking at her and Archen with a strange look. Seeing that, she felt a pang of guilt. It wouldn’t be good to let Lucas know that she had fought with Archen.

Thinking that it was a good thing that she had something to ask him anyway, Carinne changed the subject.

“By any chance, did you see Iris on your way here?”

It was a question she was asking even though she knew the answer, since Iris wasn’t there. Still, just in case, Carinne held out a sliver of hope.

“No, I didn’t. Why are you looking for her?”

“Ah…”

She had to hurry. The fact that Lucas hadn’t seen Iris meant that she had left the path before him. She hadn’t been able to find any signs of her having veered off to the side while they were walking, which meant that Iris had followed the path all the way. Could she have gone into the city and met other people?

Could she have taken refuge inside a building? Please let her be safe.

Seeing Lucas looking at her with a puzzled expression, Carinne quickly closed her mouth. It was time to explain.

“That’s because…”

“Lady Iris went missing on her way to the mansion.”

Just then, Archen cut off Carinne’s words.

“It seems she encountered a monster on the way…”

“It seems she was attacked by a monster on the way. Iris’s footprints lead to the city, so we’re on our way there.”

With that, Carinne cut off Archen’s words as well. It was a bit childish, but an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. He had to experience it to understand.

“….”

Even after she had finished explaining, Lucas remained silent. He narrowed his eyes and looked back and forth between Carinne and Archen. He looked like an old grandfather trying to read a newspaper without his reading glasses. She couldn’t help but say something.

“Why are you looking at us like that?”

Lucas’s expression was enigmatic. His eyes seemed to be saying that he was dumbfounded, but the way the corners of his mouth were twitching seemed to indicate that he was amused.

Finally, he asked quietly, “…Did the two of you fight?”

—