Chapter 204: It's the Yellow Rose's turn

Raising my head, I saw a man holding a longbow. He was on the lookout for his surroundings.

"...... Lenag?"

A golden energy was flowing from the bow. I thought it was a familiar feeling. Just like when Francia turned Callisto into a weapon, a white light emanated from the weapon. The elegant gold color of Azur was flowing from his bow.

Lenag's weapon was a bow. I thought that the elegant curve suited him very well.

"Your weapon suits you so well, Lenag."

At my greeting, which did not match the situation, Lenag looked confused for a moment.

"Thank you, Miss Iana."

Having said that, he looked around once more. Then he stood in front of me, covering me, raised his bow and took an aim. At the same time, the shape of the bow became smaller. Curiously, even though there was no arrow pointing, when he pulled the string, a translucent arrow flew off.

Whip-

A groan was heard along with a thumping sound. There was also the sound of something crashing down.

"It would be dangerous to stay here any longer. Iana."

I also had the same thought. The knights that showed up so far had been dealt with by Lenag, but I did not know how much more would come. In addition, I didn't know how long Chaser would remain unconscious. Lenag folded his knee and held out his hand to me.

"Can you excuse me for a second?"

The moment I saw Lenag's face, I thought he was wearing his glasses even at this moment. As expected, the thought of him wearing glasses stuck very stubbornly.

The moment I thought about it, a bitter smile came out.

"...... Ummm, I can run but......."

His face seemed to cry out that there was no time.

"We don't have time, right."

"Yes."

"So I think that's what I was going to say. I'll excuse you."

I grabbed his hand and muttered. I took his hand, but he paused for a moment. However, this was only for a moment. Lenag took my hand lightly and wrapped his arm around my waist. Soon after, my toes float.

Really. Everyone carries me well. A human body wouldn't be that light.

The grassy forest sped by. Lenag ran at such a speed that it was unbelievable that he was doing it while holding a person.

"Where are we going?"

There must be an inner gate near here. It was an unfamiliar way to go.

"I will cross the wall."

"The wall?"

I saw the high wall. Isn't it too high to cross over?

"If you run straight, you will come to a section where the wall is lowered. It's a part where it's more like a partition than a wall."

"Aha."

As Lenag said, as we ran a little further, there was a section where the walls were lower for a while. Lenag explained that perhaps that section was originally blocked to build a gate.

"Originally, there was strict surveillance there as well, but there was a commotion and everyone headed towards the inner gate and main gate."

The knights must have thought I would be going out the gates. Well I actually did that.

"I'm glad I'm such an easy-to-understand person."

"It's just a pattern that people usually think of."

Lenag said, looking up at the wall.

"...... And Miss Iana is by no means easy to understand."

But strangely enough, the word had a faint playfulness. I got a little startled and tried to look at him, but Lenag's movement was faster than that. Lenag, who took a big leap at once, stepped on the stones protruding from the wall one by one. It was like watching a goat climb a cliff.

But when he swooped up to the top of the wall, Lenag jumped down at once without delay. I sighed and closed my eyes tightly.

'I feel like riding a roller coaster here.'

I remember I didn't like roller coasters that much in my previous life either.......

When I opened my eyes, we reached the ground again. I let out a slow breath.

"Are you okay?"

Before I knew it, Lenag was looking down at me with a worried face.

"...... I'm okay."

"You don't look too good."

"It's because I was surprised when we jumped a little while ago. It was a feeling I never knew how to feel."

I smiled and patted his arm.

"You helped me, so I wouldn't be so mean to whine here."

"...... What if I say it's okay for you to be so mean and whine here?"

"Yes?"

Lenag said 'it was nothing' and shook his head gently. His hair, coming loose, moved together.

Come to think of it, while I was holding onto his hem, I might have also been holding his hair. Did it hurt?

"Miss Iana, I have good news and bad news."

"Which one should I listen to first?"

"As you wish."

I don't have time, so I asked him to explain both quickly.

"The good news is that from the moment you step out of the wall, you are free from Chaser."

He turned his head and pointed. Lenag moved his gaze to the place he beckoned, and I saw people waiting.

"That is my soldier."

"Ah."

It was a good thing that Chaser's knights were still searching the inside of the mansion.

"Then the bad news?"

Then Lenag closed his mouth for a moment.

"Before I came here, the roses made bets. No, it's more of a fierce deal and negotiation."

The statement was out of the blue, but I listened quietly.

"The Domulit mansion has three gates. The main gate, the inner gate, and the secret back gate."

"Right."

It was a fact that I knew. The back gate wasn't my discovery, but a spy of Hernim's.

"After a fierce argument, we decided to take on defense one by one. Each one is in charge of the main gate, the inner gate, the back gate, and so on."

That being said, that means Lenag was in charge of the inner gate.

"We agreed to take you somewhere safe if Miss Iana appears in our direction."

"Uh....... Thank you."

I had thought that a fight had not happened. It was only because of Chaser that they got together, but the three of them were often violent like flashes of bombs.

"The bad news. Miss Iana."

Lenag's soft voice landed on my ear. It was when I thought that the more I looked, the more I could not balance his soft voice and bloody eyes. His lips were raised.

"The destination would be Hernim's castle, but my wizard's skills are not good enough, so it's difficult to move there at once."

"Ah....... I see."

"Yes. So, we will have to go to the Valtaize mansion first, how about that?"

I nodded meekly.

"Contact......."

"Of course I will."

Lenag said so and smiled bitterly. After a moment of silence, he continued.

"I can't help but do it anyway."

It was a given.

"And with the Grand Duke's character, he will be persistently in touch soon."

"Hahaha......."

There would be a commotion, if he found out that both he and Francia had not met me.

It seemed that Lenag subtly slanted the pronunciation of the word 'Grand Duke' but I pretended not to know it. He had to meet again with Ricdorian again anyway. Our purpose was to save his life. It seemed that Lenag was also speaking with this in mind.

In that case. When I got the tiara, It shouldn't matter where I went. It was more urgent to get out of here right now.

"By the way, Lenag."

I tilted my head.

"Come to think of it...... you look happy?"

Lenag paused.

"...... You are mistaken."

He rolled his eyes slightly, then slightly curved them.

"It's just...... I feel the sadness of not being able to fully serve you due to the lack of subordinates."

I don't think he's making a sad face. Judging by the way he was avoiding my gaze, I thought this man was not good at lying.

But it wouldn't be a complete lie. In fact, Jaire said that only an Archmage like himself could move that span of distance at once.

Even he was assisted by a magic circle. Thinking of the distance between Domulit and Hernim, I nodded. I agreed with that. When I go out and meet Francia or Lenag, who is not like Ricdorian, of course we cannot go to Hernim right away. I seemed to understand why the three of them were torn about it.

"Then we don't seem to have time, so let's go right away."

I scolded him with a laughing voice. Of course, time was running out. We never know when the door will open and the knights will run out.

As I said that, he bowed his head and smiled slightly. All of them are great people, but how can they be so naive in front of me? While smiling, the question in the corner of my heart grew bigger and bigger. How did this blind relationship start?

"Let's go."

Lenag's wizard drew a familiar magic circle, followed by the blue light of white magic wrapping around us. The moment I saw the blue light, something came to my mind. The blue light on Chaser's hand.

The man who dangerously had the power of two roses. I knocked him down, but somehow I had a strong feeling that it wouldn't be the end.

"We've arrived."

When I opened my eyes, I saw an elegantly styled mansion.

"Welcome to the Vataize mansion."

Lenag, who muttered so much, didn't look at my face for some reason.

"Lenag?"

"Ah. I'm sorry."

"I never thought this would happen in my lifetime......."

He whispered softly without looking at me.

"...... I'm happy."

Conversely, instead of his face, I could barely see his ears, whose top part had already blushed red. I rolled my eyes and remembered that I was still in his arms. But if I had reminded him of this, his face would have been even more red.

"I wasn't expecting a situation like this, so I'm worried if I will be able to serve you well, but......."

For now, we decided to stay at Lenag's mansion for a while before moving again, so it seemed better if we were more comfortable with each other. I casually threw out a nonchalant manner to relieve his tension.

"Don't be nervous."

While stroking his arm.

"If we were married, I would have lived here, right?"

It was an engagement, wasn't it? Of course, it didn't happen, but I meant to assume it would make him feel comfortable. But I guess this was the source of the issue itself. There seemed to be a popping sound from somewhere.

Oops. Did I say something wrong?

"Those...... those words."

When I looked up, Lenag was trying to hide his messy, red face.

Unlike Ricdorian, who recognizes that his face blushes easily, he seemed unfamiliar with himself.

"Uh, are you okay?"

He shook his head as he grabbed his face.

"Haa....... Don't look."

Eventually, he said, as if pleading to me.

"Because I was happy just imagining it. I'm going to be a mess."