In the end, Lord Hartwig remained beside me until the very end of the engagement announcement party.
Only after it was over did I realize that this was how one was properly expected to behave at such an event.
Carlene, meanwhile, never once appeared at Lord Oliver’s side.
The following day, Lord Hartwig and I departed for the Limburg Margraviate.
Father and the servants gathered to see us off as we left my family home.
“Aurelia, live a happy life.”
“Yes, Father.”
In my first life, Father had never been well enough to say such words to me.
I was truly grateful that he had made a full recovery.
“Margrave of Limburg, I leave my daughter in your care.”
“Yes. I will cherish her.”
As Lord Hartwig said this, he turned to me with a warm smile.
It was my first time riding on a wyvern’s back.
Lord Hartwig mounted first, then extended his hand toward me.
With one powerful pull, he lifted me into the saddle.
He asked whether I wished to ride sidesaddle, but the thought of flying through the air that way terrified me.
Since I had worn a riding dress, I chose to sit astride the saddle instead.
When the wyvern raised its upper body, my viewpoint became far higher than it ever was on horseback.
Lord Hartwig wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close so that I would not fall.
He was near enough that I could almost feel his breath, causing my heart to race.
That feeling lasted only for a moment.
The next instant, my heart began pounding for an entirely different reason.
The wyvern spread its wings and rose lightly into the air in a single powerful motion.
I looked down upon the royal capital from high above.
The lives of countless people unfolded beneath me in a single sweeping view.
This was the first time I had ever left the place where I had been born and raised to live in a distant land.
My heart pounded with uncertainty.
Yet I realized that my excitement was even greater than my fear.
Why was that?
Perhaps it was because Lord Hartwig was with me.
I had never felt anything like this before.
“Aurelia, are you frightened?”
“A little. But I also feel incredibly excited… It is rather strange.”
“I see. You absolutely won’t fall, so don’t worry.”
“Yes.”
With Lord Hartwig’s arm wrapped securely around me, I felt perfectly steady.
My first flight had awakened feelings in me that I had never experienced before.
We flew for approximately two hours before stopping to rest.
We landed beside a lake in the middle of a wide plain.
Perhaps the wyvern had grown thirsty, because it immediately began drinking deeply from the lake.
We decided to have lunch as well.
I spread out the picnic set I had brought from home.
When I took a basket out of my Magia Item storage bag, Lord Hartwig stared in surprise.
“Where did that come from?”
“I kept it inside my magic bag.”
“Something like that exists too? How convenient!”
Apparently, Lord Hartwig had originally planned to catch fish from the lake for us to eat.
“Do you fish?”
“No. Just watch.”
Lord Hartwig took out a knife and tied a cord around its handle.
He stared intently at the lake before throwing it.
The surface erupted in a violent splash.
When he pulled on the cord, a large fish flew out of the water.
I had never imagined that anyone could catch a fish in such a way.
Just as I was about to cry out in admiration, a huge shadow burst from the water after the fish.
“What?!”
I could not help shouting.
A giant otter, nearly sixty inches long, had leaped out of the lake in pursuit of the fish.
Lord Hartwig appeared equally surprised, his eyes widening.
But it did not end there.
Immediately after the otter, an enormous reptilian monster burst from the water.
The otter had apparently intended to eat the fish, while the reptilian creature intended to eat the otter.
Faced with this sudden display of the food chain, the otter screamed.
“Gyaa! What is that thing?!”
It spoke the human language?!
But this was no time to be shocked by that.
Lord Hartwig reeled in the knife, drawing the otter and the reptilian monster onto the shore as well.
The creature possessed a mouth lined with sharp fangs, massive jaws, razor-like claws, and an enormous body.
“Aurelia, get back!”
“Y-Yes!”
It was most likely a Corocajile, a crocodile-like monster.
According to the monster encyclopedia, its hide was so hard that ordinary blades could not pierce it.
Lord Hartwig drew his sword and slashed at the Corocajile.
Clang!
The sound rang out as though his blade had struck metal.
While Lord Hartwig fought, the otter slipped around behind me.
It was still clutching the fish tightly in its arms.
The Corocajile released a cry resembling the grinding of metal.
In response, more of its kind began crawling out of the lake.
It would be dangerous to fight any more of them.
Even Lord Hartwig would not be able to handle an entire group alone.
What could I do?
As I desperately searched for an answer, the Magitris Workshop rolled out of my magic bag.
That’s it!
I opened the lid and chanted the spell.
“Auto Drain!”
The Magitris Workshop sucked in the entire group of Corocajiles at once.
Within moments, every last one had vanished.
The box began rattling violently, so I hurriedly recited another spell.
“Formare!”
A magic circle appeared, and the lid opened.
In an instant, the Corocajiles had been transformed into magic stones.
