At my suggestion to create memories by dancing together, the commander showed a more surprised expression than ever before.

Well, it was understandable.

I wasn’t exactly the type of person one would ask to dance.

Still, I felt bad that the commander was always so busy at events, so I worked up the courage to ask. But he didn’t respond for a long time.

Getting a bit embarrassed, I slowly withdrew my outstretched hand.

“I’m sorry. Come to think of it, you said you were busy. I shouldn’t have said anything. You probably don’t even have time to dance—”

“I have time.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m saying I have enough time to dance with you.”

Before I could retreat, the commander grabbed my hand first.

Then he naturally wrapped his arm around my waist, like the other couples dancing.

My heart fluttered a bit as his strong arm and large hand encircled my waist.

We started moving to the music, in that close position.

“……”

“……”

At first it was a bit awkward, dancing while pressed against the commander as if we were lovers.

But that awkwardness didn’t last long.

As we moved wildly to the lively tune, my mood gradually lifted.

“You dance better than I expected. I thought you’d be clumsy since I’ve never seen you dance before.”

“I learned when I was young… back when I was a prince. As a member of the imperial family, I had to know at least that much.”

“I suppose so. Still, it must be disappointing. You dance so well but don’t have a chance to show it off at balls.”

“It’s fine. Thanks to you, I’m getting to fully display my hidden dancing skills right now.”

Hearing his words, I let out a light laugh, and he laughed along with me.

Though he didn’t quite bare his teeth in a full smile, seeing the commander laugh was still rare and novel.

I etched that smile clearly in my mind, while thinking to myself:

It was a smile that tickled the heart of the beholder.

“You should smile like that more often.”

“I’d like to say the same to you. Smile more often. You look much better when you smile.”

“If I smile often, will you do the same, Commander?”

“I’ll smile until you’re sick of it.”

He gave another grin after that retort.

As I smiled back, I suddenly remembered there was something I needed to tell him.

“Um… about becoming His Majesty’s partner this time, I really didn’t intend for it to happen. I also didn’t want to end up acting separately from the knights because of it.”

“It’s fine. What’s done is done, so there’s no need to act like a guilty puppy.”

Unlike when he got angry before, the commander now showed quite an open-minded attitude.

Perhaps moving together to the lively tune had made him much more generous.

In any case, I took this opportunity to ask the commander clearly.

“Then you’re not angry anymore, right? You even said you didn’t trust me. Do you trust me now?”

“Hmm, I’ll decide that based on what you do from now on.”

Though he said he’d decide based on my future actions, it was essentially the same as saying he would trust me.

If he still intended to distrust me, he would have reacted seriously to my question.

What a relief.

That thought flashed through my mind for a moment.

I had felt uneasy about how things were left unresolved after I was blamed because of Ernant before, but I’m truly glad now.

Even if our trust wasn’t perfectly solid yet, we opened our hearts and talked like this today, so it will surely improve someday.

Just then, someone bumped into my back hard.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!”

It seemed the couple behind me had accidentally collided with me while spinning wildly as they danced.

They were bowing their heads repeatedly in apology, so it really did seem like an accident and I wasn’t angry at them.

However, I did feel flustered.

Because of them pushing my back, I had ended up pressed against the commander unintentionally.

I nodded at the couple to indicate it was okay, and they soon left to continue dancing.

“I apologize for leaning on you, Commander. I lost my balance for a moment.”

After apologizing like that, I tried to pull away from the commander’s embrace.

It’s not that I disliked the situation, but it also wasn’t proper to stay like this.

So I gently pushed against his chest to move away, but my body wouldn’t budge.

It was because of the commander’s arm wrapped around my waist.

I couldn’t separate from him because he was holding my waist tightly.

Suddenly I felt like I had experienced something like this in the past.

Was it Ernant?

He had also tightly embraced my waist and wouldn’t let go.

I probably could have easily broken free from Ernant’s arms with just a little force, but not from the commander’s arms.

His solid arms, trained by wielding heavy halberds, were simply beyond my strength to overcome.

After struggling in vain to escape his embrace, I snapped my fingers in front of his face a few times.

“Commander? Get a hold of yourself. I can’t stand up straight unless you let go.”

“…Excuse me for a moment.”

Only then did the commander release me.

Just as I was about to ask what had made him space out like that, he spoke first.

“I think I need to go now.”

“Ah, yes, since a song just ended, you should hurry and go. To the Great Temple, right?”

“Yes. I need to escort His Holiness the Pope’s National Foundation Day parade.”

In this Heldenberg Empire, there are only two who stand shoulder to shoulder with Ernant.

One is the Empire’s protector who guards against the Rift, Duke Martin von Habicht.

And the other is the spiritual pillar of the imperial citizens wearied by the Rift, Pope Friedt von Emmersheide.

Every year at the National Foundation Day event, that Pope marches among the people along with the priests, and escorting this parade has always been the commander’s duty.

Therefore, the commander was currently in quite a hurry.

“Take care on your way.”

“Right, see you later.”

After exchanging brief farewells, he quickly disappeared into the crowd.

I watched the commander’s retreating figure before coming to my senses belatedly.

Come to think of it, I needed to find Johannes.

I had to watch the Pope’s parade together with him.

Every year on National Foundation Day, I too had escorted the Pope as the vice-commander of the knights, so I hadn’t been able to properly enjoy the parade.

I had finally gotten the chance to watch the parade mixed in with the crowd, so I couldn’t miss it.

Afterwards, I started moving more hurriedly to find Johannes.

[This is the timeline separator]

After saying goodbye to Yulia.

Martin entered a deserted alley and tried to calm his slightly quickened breathing.

His breathing had become a little rapid, and his heartbeat was also faster than usual.

It wasn’t just because he had danced vigorously.

Then why? He pondered that question to himself as he reflected on what had just happened.

When he received Yulia’s invitation to dance, he hadn’t thought much of it.

Though he was busy, he was drawn in by Yulia’s words about making memories, and since dancing wasn’t a very difficult task, he had simply danced.

When he moved his body to the lively song, he was… quite enjoying himself.

He thought it was good that they had danced together.

The problem came next. When Yulia smiled. And when she accidentally fell into Martin’s arms.

Though she had softened a lot recently, Yulia still wasn’t one to smile often.

The moment such a Yulia smiled in front of him, Martin felt an unfamiliar sensation.

It was like his heart was being tickled by a soft brush in the corner.

That must have been why. When Yulia fell into his arms due to the accidental bump from some couple, he couldn’t easily let her go.

Yulia’s body nestled in his arms was smaller than he had thought.

When Yulia swung her sword to cut down monsters, he had never thought her body was small.

Yet that body, which contained such powerful strength, was unexpectedly small enough to fit snugly in his arms, and this gave Martin a strange feeling.

…I shouldn’t think unnecessary thoughts.

He hastily cut off the thoughts that were about to continue like that.

It was because he suddenly had a feeling that if he delved any deeper, he might not be able to return.

[This is the timeline separator]

After searching for a long time in the bustling square, I was finally able to find Johannes.

He was anxiously looking for me while observing the dancing people.

I quickly said to Johannes as I caught him.

“Let’s hurry. His Holiness the Pope’s parade will start soon.”

“Ah, will we be able to see it properly if we go now? It seems like a lot of people have already gathered.”

“It’s alright. I know a place where we can watch quietly.”

I knew where we could watch the parade without getting swept up in the crowd.

It was thanks to having personally escorted the parade every year.

When you stand by His Holiness the Pope’s side and escort the parade, you can see at a glance where people are crowded and where they aren’t.

From what I had observed then, there were the most people near the Great Temple and the main street.

And there were relatively few people on the narrow streets connecting between them.

We could go there.

I led Johannes to that narrow street, following my memory.

As expected, there weren’t many people there.

Because the street was narrow, people avoided it, making it rather quiet.

We waited there for the Pope’s parade to approach.

After waiting a little while, Johannes said.

“Ah, here it comes.”

We first saw the Holy Knights marching neatly at the very front of the procession.

Wearing beautiful pure white formal uniforms, they were vigilantly watching their surroundings with solemn faces.

Their expressions showed pride befitting the knights of Erdenkinder, the state religion of the Empire.

However, even so, it is our Silver Knights who directly guard His Holiness the Pope by his side.

Soon we could also see Commander Martin and our unit members.

I immediately informed Johannes.

“Look carefully, those people coming are my comrades.”

After telling Johannes to watch my comrades well, I also observed them.

The ones participating in the escort were Commander Martin, Karl, and Elma. These three.

Both Elma and Karl looked great, but of course the commander stood out the most.

He was guarding His Holiness the Pope’s side while riding a splendid white horse in fancy formal attire.

The jet-black formal uniform with gold tassels really suited the commander well.

I waited for the parade to come closer and then waved my hand towards the commander amidst the cheering crowd.

“…!”

Thanks to our siblings standing relatively close to the front, the commander seemed to easily spot us too.

His eyes widened slightly in surprise as he saw me waving.

However, since he couldn’t be distracted while escorting, he soon focused ahead again.

I wished he could have looked a bit longer.

It was disappointing that we couldn’t greet each other even though I wanted to.

As I was feeling disappointed like that, Johannes standing next to me urgently called out to me.

“Oh, it looks like His Holiness the Pope is looking in your direction, Sister!”

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.