“… You have to come out today, right?”

Cedar slowly turned his head at the sound of Hail’s voice.

Hail gulped dryly at the sharp gaze, like a beast eyeing its prey.

When he didn’t know much about the person called Cedar Granite, that gaze frightened him, but now he no longer shrank from such a look.

‘He just doesn’t want to work!’

Why pressure me with such a gaze when it’s not even something to be proud of!

‘And now you must work!’

Though he wanted to pretend not to notice, now he had to bring Cedar to the Dragon Knight Order.

‘There’s the northern subjugation campaign soon, so we need to coordinate with other knight orders.’

Until now, he had never worried like this about his superior who had been so devoted to work as to be called a workaholic.

But with his wife waking from her vegetative state, Hail felt a sense of crisis that his superior might act differently than before.

‘Of course, it’s not urgent enough to push him yet. But…’

Still, he had a feeling that he needed to start pushing now.

Cedar was already devoting much time to his wife, wasn’t he?

Personally taking care of all three meals, and suddenly taking leave he had never used in his life because she was ill.

‘Moreover, the madam is frail. She’ll probably fall ill often. Then he’ll take leave often.’

What happens to the work when the superior doesn’t do it?

‘It becomes my work!’

That won’t do. While he greatly respected Cedar Granite as a superior, he absolutely had no intention of doing his work for him.

The secret to a healthy life is separating work and personal life!

So come out quickly. Come out and work.

‘Besides, taking leave has already drawn considerable attention.’

With a man who had never taken leave in his life suddenly taking it, everyone was looking on with curious eyes.

Since a Sword Master wouldn’t rest due to illness, it must surely be leave for personal reasons!

It was certain that rumors would soon spread that Cedar had divorced Nelly Periway and started a rosy romance with a new woman.

‘If you don’t want people to know that the madam has woken from her vegetative state, you need to come out and work!’

But trampling mercilessly on Hail’s desperate expectations, Cedar replied in a calm tone.

“I’m taking this week off.”

Hail’s face crumpled. He scratched his head and grumbled in protest.

“What? But the madam seems to have recovered now.”

This time, it was Cedar’s face that crumpled at Hail’s reply.

Turning his body to face Hail directly, Cedar put his hands on his hips and scolded.

“Are you saying that after properly looking at that woman’s face? She’s clearly still ill no matter how you look at her.”

“When I saw her in the dining room earlier, she seemed fine?”

‘It’s true she’s thinner than average, but if she can scurry around like a chick, that’s good enough, isn’t it?’

Hail thought indifferently.

Seemingly quite displeased with Hail’s answer, Cedar clicked his tongue and strode up to Hail, asking.

“Without even looking properly… Wait, why are you meeting my wife on your own?”

Cedar stopped mid-interrogation and veered off course. Hail sighed deeply and squeezed his eyes shut.

“… Your illness runs deep, I see.”

“That’s right. She’s still very sick. She only got out of bed this morning. Do you know how worried I’ve been that something might happen while she’s sleeping?”

“No, not the madam, I mean you, Commander.”

“What?”

It was only bewildering to see him pouring out worry about his wife, thinking Hail was agreeing with him.

Hail sighed again.

‘I knew it was true love, but I didn’t know it was this serious.’

In the past, he had purely supported the fact that even the seemingly inhuman commander could love someone.

But not anymore!

‘You used to tell me to take care of things like a butler, but now you’re interrogating me about why I met her.’

Hail was now certain that Cedar was hiding the fact that Nelly had woken from her vegetative state in order to hide her from everyone’s eyes.

‘She’s not that much of a world-class beauty! She only looks pretty in your eyes!’

It was frustrating that Cedar couldn’t understand even if he said this.

Hail sighed deeply again. Then, running his hand through his hair, he summarized Cedar’s words.

“Anyway, a week will be enough, right? You’ll return to work next week.”

“If more time is needed, we’ll discuss it again.”

“No!”

Though Hail usually trembled in fear of Cedar, today his voice rose involuntarily.

The other party was a man lost in the fever of love! He didn’t even feel as intimidating as before.

“Are you going to make the madam a Sword Master? Why do you need so much time? She may still be a bit weak, but there’s no problem with her returning to work! You’ll see her three times a day every day anyway!”

Your workplace is right next door.

Just over one wall. If anything happens, she’ll come running from there.

Why on earth was he lounging at home without even coming to work! Unable to understand at all, Hail raged.

After listening quietly to all of this, Cedar folded his arms and replied in a solemn tone.

“I need to make an herb garden.”

“… What?”

“I’m going to grow herbs in the garden.”

“…”

He meant that he would do it himself, being healthy and strong, since Nelly might collapse again if she foolishly tried to till the field.

From Cedar’s perspective, it was a natural conclusion.

But Cedar made one mistake.

He didn’t explain why he was making the herb garden.

So naturally, Hail thought this:

‘He said he’d make her healthy, but now he’s going to grow herbs too?!’

Not content with personally cooking three healthy meals a day, now he’s going to grow herbs to feed her, he thought.

‘Is it because of this kind of obsession that he became a Sword Master, or did he develop this obsession because he’s a Sword Master?’

Either way, Hail was sincerely impressed.

“Love is truly great indeed.”

To change a person like this, it’s the power of love after all.

‘With such sincere love, I’m ashamed that I disliked it just because work was being passed on to me.’

I’m sorry, Sir Cedar. I’ll support you sincerely again.

Hail gazed at Cedar with moist eyes.

Unfortunately, Hail’s sincerity not only failed to reach Cedar, but bounced right off.

“Are you in love?”

Cedar asked with a frown.

His face showed not the slightest doubt that he himself was the subject of the ‘love’ Hail was talking about.

To be so sincere, and to care for the madam with such devotion that even parents wouldn’t do so much.

‘I’m talking about you! It’s about you!’

Unable to grab his superior’s collar and shout that, Hail could only sigh deeply enough to sink into the ground.

“Never mind if you don’t understand.”

[This is the timeline separator]

An incurable disease obtained from using time-turning magic, mana depletion.

I gave up on curing myself.

Just as a fish out of water instinctively realizes it cannot live outside water, I realized it the moment I opened my eyes.

That I could no longer contain mana in my body.

‘A vessel used for a long time is bound to crack. If it receives strong heat on top of that, the possibility of breaking becomes even higher.’

That’s exactly my situation.

Because I suddenly poured out magic beyond my limits, the vessel containing my body’s mana shattered.

My heart can now only hold a very small amount of mana.

But!

‘He said he could cure it.’

[If he cures my illness, I’ll tell you one way to solve your problem.]

An unexpected helping hand had been extended to me.

‘I hope Grisha comes quickly.’

I could hardly sit still due to my pounding heart.

I felt excited and elated, as if I had found water after wandering through a vast desert.

‘But didn’t he say I was doing well on my own?’

Jack had clearly said so.

That he would tell me the method, but that I was already dealing with it well on my own.

‘Did he notice that I’m gathering using magic circles? But that amount is far from enough.’

Is it because elves live for an incomparably longer time than humans, so he thinks it’s fine to gather slowly, bit by bit? If that’s the kind of solution he means, it would be problematic.

‘So this is what it feels like to have hope.’

My heart was pounding.

Even though I thought there was no need to be excited, my heart swelled with anticipation regardless.

I could understand now why Jack’s expression had changed so much at my words earlier.

‘Still, I should calm down. If the answer turns out to be nothing special, the disappointment will be great.’

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

I took deep breaths and tried to soothe my heart. How much time had passed like that?

Tap―

I raised my head at the sound of small footsteps.

Beyond the open dining room door, as if a shadow emerging from the darkness, black hair slipped into view.

‘Cedar!’

No matter what I did, my heart wouldn’t settle, but the moment Cedar appeared, my heart started racing for a different reason.

Cedar looked at me with sharp eyes, like an eagle looking down at rotten meat. Then he asked in a chilly tone.

“… It seems you had ample time for the meal?”

“Hup.”

It was time for the ‘meal inspection’ that Cedar had warned about earlier!

‘I had completely forgotten!’

Looking down at the plate in front of me, the green vegetables greeted me with a smile.

Cedar frowned and folded his arms. I hung my head low and offered excuses.

“It’s not that I was ignoring your words and refusing to eat. An important thought came to mind, and while I was thinking about that…”

My voice was so small that even I could barely hear it. A long sigh poured down over my head.

“Haah.”

Was he disappointed in me?