After finishing his conversation with Rembrandt Argentia, Garnett moved with Luke to the terrace adjacent to the dance hall.

　The chilly night air caressed their flaming cheeks.

　The full moon and stars shone in the clear night sky, and the musician's music could be heard leaking through the closed glass doors.

　If it's just the two of you talking quietly, you won't find a better situation to be in.

'--and I suppose it's time you told me. I mean, why are you here? You said you'd talk to me later.

　Garnett misrepresented his prodigal innermost thoughts with a vivacious smile, and again asked the question that had been shelved.

　He was still dressed in his fluttery dress and spoke to her in his usual boyish manner.

　He was aware that it was terribly unbalanced, but he couldn't go back to his normal attire at the party, and besides, Luke seemed to be enjoying the current situation.

''As I said at the beginning, the only reason I found myself in this situation was because I [restored] the letter you tore up.

　Leaning his back against the terrace railing, Luke began to explain the events that led up to the current situation in turn.

'After work, I noticed that Erica had lost the recipe for the potion, so I [restored] the entire contents of the scrap basket to see if maybe it had been discarded by mistake. ......
So I could get my letters back.
'I knew it was wrong of me to look at you without permission. I was missing you, and I had a bad feeling about it, too.
"Tacky ......

　If this had been any man other than Luke, he would have been furious, no doubt, but perhaps it was because of the situation, but he didn't get angry at all.

　Part of the reason why he was here now is because of that, but more importantly, it was that he missed his own absence.

　How in the world did I miss him - I listened to the rest of Luke's explanation, suppressing the urge to ask such a nasty question.

'After that, anyway, we'll do our best to prepare. That day, you were trying to get information from Leila about the night party and what kind of preparations you needed to make.
'Leila?　He's a black dragon person, how could he let you help him do this?
When I said I could introduce you to Travis, he said two words.
...... Oh, yeah.

　He couldn't help but chuckle in disgust.

　Travis is the very definition of Leila's ideal man, and he was blatantly in love with her at first sight after one of the collapses.

　I can see the bite in his eyes when he said he could introduce me to him.

　However, I'm not in a position right now to say what to do about other people's love affairs, but I decided to put that aside for now.

You'll have to apologize to Travis later. I'll do the same, you'll think of something. What's going on?
The next day we'll make arrangements for transportation while Theodore writes us a letter of introduction and we'll be ready to go, and then we'll leave again early the next morning.

　Counting on his fingers, Garnett compared Luke's schedule to the passage of days when he had come to King's Landing.

　First of all, he learned the truth of the matter on the day he left Green Hollow, spent the next day preparing and left early the next two days.

　On the other hand, they spent the day of their arrival in King's Landing and the day after that in preparation for the night party, and attended the night party after sunset on the day after that.

　If the number of days spent traveling is the same, it's just a slip up.

'Yeah, of course I didn't tell anyone your secret. I fooled them all right.
But how did you manage to get your ass to the capital in just one day? Didn't you get the clothes you wanted afterwards?
''To get to the King's Capital, I was allowed to carpool in a high-speed liaison carriage from the Guild Branch to the King's Capital headquarters, and I managed to force the Sundial Chamber of Commerce to do this one in half a day.

　Luke pinched the collar of his formal wear.

　A truly stupendous force to be reckoned with.
　The man named Luke of the White Wolf Forest is literally kicking the reasoning out of the things that he has accumulated so far by mobilizing all the things that he has accumulated so far.

　He's an A-ranked adventurer named Theodore, a nobleman to his synchronized Travis.
　An adventurer's guild chapter headed by an old friend.
　A connection to the Sundial Chamber of Commerce, gained through his relationship with the girl who saved his life and the town he saved from bankruptcy.

　All of these things, Luke wielded them all for a single purpose.

.............

　Garnett turned over, unable to control the flush in her cheeks as the hot emotions that should have subsided came up again.

'...... Nah, are you sure that was a good idea?'
I know it was hard, but it was worth it.
I mean, no!

　Garnett looked up at Luke's face with intent, and then squeezed out the question that was almost clogging the back of his throat - his biggest fear.

'You were ...... good at Ole. It might sound weird to say this, but you're a nice girl and a pretty girl, and you're around a lot of people. It's a good thing that you're famous, because you're a lot better than that ...... and you're better than that ...... and that's why it's better for me to be .......

　Luke was surprised at first, surprisingly, but he smiled lovingly from the bottom of his heart as he watched Garnett struggle to spin each word.

'Oh, yes. I'd rather have you. For that, I'll be a Knight Commander or whatever it is I'm going to be,''
"......!　Hey, you!　Don't be so clearly ...... ashamed of yourself.
'I'm embarrassed, of course. But you were brave enough to ask. I'm not gonna let you down.

　Garnett's gaze swept over, twisting his fingers in front of his chest and struggling to think of a word to say to fight back.

　But it was no use.
　There were so many emotions running around in her head that she couldn't quite get her thoughts together.

　I couldn't believe that I had this side of me.

　After losing my mother, I wanted to take revenge, and while training myself as a member of the Silver Wing Knights, I continued to perform many missions - in the more than ten years of my life that I have lived like that, I have never once felt this kind of emotion.

　When he somehow managed to think that far, Garnett realized that it was too late to do so.

　-- this is a late first love.
　This is a late first love, and the fact that the guy is trying to bring it to fruition in the best way imaginable has completely overwhelmed the defenseless mind.

　So go as far as you can.

I'm not sure if words are enough to make you believe in ......, or if you're worried about ......, or if it's just that I think it's okay to really believe in ....... Like ......

　After staring at Garnett, who was slumbering but managed to keep his gaze on her, Luke looked at his surroundings with a bit of nervousness.

　This was an upstairs terrace, away from the glass doors that led indoors.
　After a brief hesitation, Luke gently put his hand on Garnet's cheek, causing his face to rise slightly.

　Garnet understood what was about to be done to her, and she closed her moist eyes and stretched as best she could.

　Two overlapping shadows.
　The only thing watching over them was the full moon and the starry sky.