“This young lady is feeling merciful today and will cook for you personally. How about it?”
“Cook… for me?”
Upon hearing those key words, he seemed to forget even the guarded stance he had been maintaining.
His lady… would personally cook for him?
If Arlette remembered correctly…
This was the first time Merlo had ever proactively offered to make something for Arlette to eat.
Even during the time in the Blood Clan territory when Merlo had treated Arlette the best, he had never enjoyed such treatment.
He had basically gotten by every day on simple coarse grains. It had been that way since he was a child, and by now, he could not even stomach overly extravagant food.
Whenever he ate anything prepared too luxuriously, he would feel nauseous.
And yet now, Lady Merlo had actually spoken up and said she would cook for him?
“My lady, this…”
“This is a one-time offer, so if you want to eat, speak up now.”
Merlo crossed her legs and wrapped her arms across her chest, wearing a subtle smile.
“Fried eggs.”
As soon as he heard her ultimatum, Arlette spoke immediately, ordering the dish he wanted.
“I want to eat fried eggs.”
“You’re ordering such a simple dish?”
“Yes. If it is cooked by your own hands, my lady, even a simple dish can be delicious.”
Arlette was a man with high emotional intelligence.
He knew that Merlo had almost never cooked before, and ordering a dish that was too complex or difficult would likely be too hard for her.
Therefore, he chose an extremely ordinary and common dish like fried eggs.
“Fine. Since it’s what you want to eat, I’ll begrudgingly satisfy you.”
Merlo gave a light snort and reached out to pat Arlette’s shoulder armor.
“However, you have to keep working hard. If you don’t get the Dragon Slayer title, your fried eggs are going down the drain.”
Looking at Merlo, a faint smile actually bloomed on Arlette’s face, which had grown numb from pain beneath his visor.
He was very happy.
When was the last time he had been this happy spending time with his lady?
It felt like a long, long time had passed.
He nodded slowly.
“Yes. I will do my best.”
As he looked at his lady’s face, which carried a hint of joy, a powerful emotion surged from within his body, dispersing much of the agony brought on by his injuries and illness.
It was a feeling of pure, heartfelt satisfaction.
In this moment, it felt as if all the pain he had endured was worth it.
‘My lady is still the same after all…’
‘As long as I can obtain the title of Dragon Slayer, you will definitely be able to return to the way you were before…’
In an instant, scenes of Merlo’s past interactions with him began to replay in his memory.
The lady who had picked him up and brought him back to the territory, giving a displaced person like him a name and a status.
The lady who had taught him carefully, just like a mentor.
The lady who had cleared the garden with him, planted seeds, and looked forward to the flowers blooming…
To Arlette, a man who had lost his real family and home back in childhood…
His heart, which was as hard as steel, was filled to the brim with a longing for kinship, home, and love that had nowhere else to go.
And Merlo was the only person who could hold those countless emotions.
This was also the source of all his loyalty and conviction.
Even though his lady had changed a lot after they began their adventure.
Even though she had become unlike herself, seeming instead like a stranger wearing his lady’s appearance.
Even though she had begun to treat Arlette harshly and excessively.
Even so, he did not give up.
Even so, he still refused to give up on letting her return to her original self.
‘I will work hard.’
‘Even if I have to give it my all, even if I have to sacrifice my life…’
‘I will make you the one and only Dragon Slayer.’
‘On my name as a knight.’
—
As the stone boat traveled, Fluff, the bard, was focused intently on maintaining her mandolin.
She did not need to keep watch for monsters, nor did she need to provide power for the boat, so she was naturally quite idle.
Fluff was the type of person who heard nothing once she focused on a specific task.
“Whew! That’s about finished.”
During the course of the adventure, the wooden instrument that had always accompanied Fluff had become covered in scars for various reasons.
Looking at the pits and gashes that covered the body of the instrument, Fluff subconsciously thought of Arlette.
At the thought of Arlette, an indescribable feeling welled up in her heart.
It felt as if a piece of her heart had suddenly gone missing.
‘I’m still a bit worried about Sir Knight… It would probably be better to ask him personally.’
‘Yes, I should ask.’
Thinking this, she raised her head slightly, wanting to ask Arlette about his physical condition.
But what met her eyes was the scene of Merlo and Arlette interacting intimately.
That knight whom she had always admired, who was incredibly reliable, and yet extremely cold toward her…
He was speaking to Merlo in a happy tone that Fluff had never heard before.
From time to time, he would even crack a joke or two with the latter, injecting a cheerful atmosphere into the swelering air around them.
For a moment, Fluff was stunned, and her fingernail nearly scratched her strings.
Whether it was because she was tired from the long journey or for some other reason, Fluff’s breathing grew heavier, and her head even began to feel dizzy.
She quickly averted her eyes, trying to stop paying attention to the two of them.
However, her ears still uncontrollably took in every bit of information from their conversation.
‘Sir Knight is so gentle… when he speaks to the Commander.’
For some reason, Fluff’s heart gave a violent throb.
Clearly, when he spoke to her, Arlette was incredibly cold and rational, appearing as if he had no emotions at all.
But when he spoke to Merlo, he radiated a sense of tenderness from the inside out that Fluff had never enjoyed.
As the two of them interacted, there was nothing she could do; she could only watch quietly from the side.
Even if she did not want to look, the sounds of their communication inevitably reached her ears.
The space on the boat was so small that she could not escape even if she wanted to.
‘Why…’
‘I’m the one who poured all my heart and soul into him.’
‘Whether it was illness, loneliness, or injury…’
‘I was the one who stayed by his side through it all.’
Fluff’s eyes reflected the scorching light of the Golden Sea, looking as if a fire had been lit within them.
‘I’m the one who cares about him the most…’
‘But why…?’
She looked up at Arlette and the other woman across from her.
Though they were right in front of her, they felt as distant as if they were separated by an entire world.
It was as if she had never been needed or cared about from the very beginning.
Fluff could only clench her small fists tightly, leaving bloody marks on her skin, before letting go in frustration.
‘It’s fine…’
‘At least this proves that Sir Knight’s current condition is quite good…’
‘Right?’
Even as she thought this, a massive sense of loss still overflowed from the depths of Fluff’s eyes.
At this moment, she desperately hoped that Arlette would glance her way.
Even if just for a second.
However, that wish ultimately failed to come true.
In Arlette’s eyes, there was only Merlo.
Whether it was now…
Or in the past.