When Diana returned to the Gazard residence in the capital and reported everything that had occurred to her father, Wesley, Duke of Gazard, furrowed his brow and released a deep sigh.
There was no longer any doubt that someone had attempted to assassinate his old friend Alan.
Given Alan’s origins, Wesley could guess who the enemy was.
He did not want his old friend to die, and he possessed enough of a sense of justice to be angered by such indefensible conduct. Yet if the enemy was who Wesley suspected, a careless move could prove fatal to his own house.
How should he proceed?
What could he do to save Alan?
Though his beloved daughter stood before him, the oppression in his heart escaped naturally as a sigh.
“How should we respond, Father?”
“No. Leave this matter to me.”
“But, Father…”
Diana clearly wished to do something for Alan herself.
Wesley rejected the idea firmly.
“You are not to involve yourself.”
At her father’s sharp words, Diana swallowed what she had been about to say.
He was not a man who would speak this way merely to be cruel.
If her father said it, the matter must carry considerable danger.
And if that was true, did it not mean that Alan was even now standing at the very heart of that danger?
“…I cannot expose you to such peril.”
The faint anguish in her father’s murmur constricted Diana’s chest.
Without a title of her own, she possessed no political power.
She understood that leaving the matter to her father was the wisest choice.
Even so, she could not stop herself from wanting to act.
All she could do was desperately suppress the anxiety and impatience rising within her.
* * *
The following week, rewards were bestowed in recognition of the monster-subjugation campaign.
Representing the Gazard Knights, Diana went to the royal castle to receive their commendation.
Unlike the king, who remained expressionless and utterly indifferent throughout, Crown Prince Lawrence cast Diana a teasing look.
“To earn distinction in battle despite being a woman. As expected of the academy’s celebrated prodigy.”
His sarcastic tone seemed to say, Imagine that, from a woman.
Diana bowed deeply before him.
“As one entrusted with the knights in my father’s place, I am honored that they were able to demonstrate House Gazard’s unwavering loyalty to the royal family.”
She herself had merely acted as the current Duke of Gazard’s representative; it was the Gazard Knights who had earned distinction.
Once she stepped back and framed the matter in those terms, even Lawrence could say nothing further.
He merely muttered, “Had Cordelia been the one to come to court, I might have invited her to tea.”
Though spoken as if to himself, the comment was plainly intended for Diana’s ears.
His attitude told her that she was nothing like Cordelia—that she possessed none of her sister’s charm.
Diana had always known the Crown Prince to be insolent.
She could not begin to understand why Cordelia loved such a man.
He believed everything should proceed according to his wishes.
He believed women should remain quiet and obey men.
He openly despised Diana for attracting attention despite being a woman and attempted to humiliate her before others.
Cordelia, who quietly deferred to him, was likely his ideal woman.
Yet Lawrence had been engaged since childhood.
The date of his wedding had already been set, and his betrothed, Lady Kaylee Eldred, daughter of a duke, had spent years being educated as the kingdom’s future queen.
If Lawrence nevertheless showed interest in Cordelia, it could only be because he saw some value in using her.
Poor Cordelia.
Diana thought so, but she could not bring herself to deny her sister’s love.
After all, Diana herself had spent years yearning for someone beyond her reach.
Her chest tightened painfully.
* * *
“Lady Diana, I thought you might be here.”
“Lord Alan!”
When Diana visited the Royal Knights’ quarters in search of the man she loved, Alan welcomed her with a smile.
She had assumed he would attend the ceremony at which the royal family rewarded the expedition.
But Alan had not been summoned to the audience chamber.
Though a member of the royal family, he was not treated as one.
His position as the king’s brother seemed to exist in name alone, while he was deliberately excluded whenever something of importance occurred.
That truth pained Diana. At the same time, she felt relieved that Alan had been spared Lawrence’s unpleasant remarks.
The assembled knights in the Third Knight Order’s quarters all regarded Diana warmly.
That was only natural. Every one of them knew how much she had accomplished during the recent expedition.
“Lord Alan, do you remember your promise to take me on a date?”
“O-Of course I do…”
The surrounding knights watched Alan avert his gaze and stumble over his answer, struggling to suppress their smiles.
“At a time like this, you should be the one extending the invitation.”
“Exactly. Making the lady say it is inexcusable.”
“And you call yourself a former knight commander?”
“That is enough from all of you!”
Alan wore a wry smile, but his ears had turned red.
He cleared his throat once and faced Diana properly.
Today she was dressed quite differently from the female knight who had accompanied him upon the expedition.
She wore a flowing gown of deep indigo whose skirt flared softly around her, with a shawl of pale-blue lace draped over her shoulders.
The silhouette emphasized her slender, feminine waist, and Alan could not keep himself from drawing a sharp breath.
“Do your best, Your Highness!”
“Stop making sport of this.”
The knights continued to watch Alan intently.
After casting them one brief, irritated glance, he offered Diana his large hand.
“We will hardly be able to speak in peace here. Lady Diana, if it pleases you, would you care to go into town for tea?”
“Yes, gladly.”
Diana smiled like a flower bursting into bloom and placed her hand in his.
Pretending not to see the knights make triumphant gestures around them, Alan escorted Diana out of the quarters.
“Ah… Should I arrange for a carriage?”
On the way to the stables, Alan remembered that Diana was wearing a gown and stopped.
She could not sit astride a horse in such clothing.
Uncertain what to do, he studied her expression.
If Diana rode in her gown, her only option would be to sit sideways upon Alan’s horse.
The mere thought made her heart race and her cheeks grow hot.
“Either choice is perfectly acceptable to me.”
She answered with an appearance of calm, but when Alan continued looking at her, her heart beat faster still.
“I-I see. In that case…”
Alan swung lightly onto the back of the powerful warhorse he cared for himself.
He then slipped an arm around Diana’s slender waist and lifted her onto the saddle.
They sat close together upon the horse, and Diana knew that her face had turned scarlet.
“…I am accustomed to horses, yet sitting like this leaves me strangely unsettled.”
“I feel the same.”
The low voice from behind her sent Diana’s heart pounding even harder.
“Hold on tightly.”
“I will!”
The horse began to walk at an easy pace.
Their heartbeats resonated as though they had become one, while a gentle breeze cooled the heat between them.
