The Royal Guard greatly outnumbered the Third Knight Order, making it difficult for the latter to suppress the rebellion alone. However, the Gazard Knights returned to the front-line base after delivering the wounded soldiers, allowing the uprising to be quelled successfully.
Earl Joseph, believed to be the mastermind, had also been apprehended, but he continued to maintain his silence.
As Earl Joseph was himself a noble of the kingdom, even a member of the royal family like Alan could not pass judgment upon him on his own authority. It had been decided that he would be escorted to the royal capital, but Alan’s expression remained grim.
Alan had almost no personal dealings with either the Royal Guard or its deputy captain, Earl Joseph. That being the case, it was more reasonable to assume that they had acted under orders rather than out of a personal grudge.
Only those in the highest reaches of the royal palace—the Crown Prince and his inner circle—could issue orders to the Royal Guard.
The thought sent a trembling sense of alarm and a dark, seething rage surging through Alan. Moreover, the knowledge that Diana had put herself in danger to save him only compounded his frustration.
Once he was alone with Diana inside a tent after the rebellion had been suppressed, he could not keep his voice from turning harsh.
“I am grateful that you came to my aid. But why would you do something so dangerous?”
The more Alan thought about Diana, the more his chest ached.
Would the political machinations aimed at removing him eventually drag Diana into danger as well?
That was what frightened him most.
“Did you not tell me, Lord Alan, ‘Do not leave my side’?”
“Y-Yes.”
“And I could not imagine that you would ever issue such an order. Of course I had to find out what was happening.”
Diana’s clear gaze remained unwavering as she looked up at Alan. The more he realized how deeply she cared for him, the greater his frustration grew.
“I wanted you to put your own safety first.”
“For me, Lord Alan, you are the one who matters most.”
Their arguments continued along parallel lines. Precisely because they cared for each other, neither side would ever intersect with the other.
“Please understand… If anything were to happen to you, I would never be able to face your father.”
At the mention of her father, Diana pursed her lips in a pout.
The childlike gesture, coming from a woman of such mature beauty, threw Alan’s heart into turmoil. Nothing made him happier than knowing that she cared so deeply for him.
And because it made him so happy, he had to be all the firmer with her.
“I feel the same…”
Diana’s answering voice trembled faintly.
“If anything happened to you, I would regret it for the rest of my life!”
Diana’s thoughts returned to her first life.
She had wept alone when she heard from someone else that her first love had died.
All she had been able to do was cry.
She had studied swordsmanship at the academy, learned magic, claimed the top rank in her class, and earned widespread acclaim as a genius.
And what had any of it amounted to?
She had not been able to save even one person she wanted to protect.
Why had she worked so hard to become strong?
Had it merely been to earn outstanding marks?
Day after day, she had blamed herself for being utterly useless when it truly mattered.
She had taken action to break free from that former life.
“I… want you to stay alive…”
That sense of helplessness she had experienced in her first life—she never wanted to feel it again.
That was why Diana was fighting so desperately to overturn the fate of her previous life.
Tears began pouring from Diana’s eyes. At the sight of the large droplets spilling from her amethyst-colored eyes, even the battle-hardened warrior showed a rare moment of distress.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to become angry. It’s just…”
Alan faltered as Diana stared up at him with tears brimming in her eyes.
His rough fingertips gently stroked her tear-streaked cheek.
Would she break if he touched her?
As though handling a piece of delicate glasswork, Alan’s hand trembled faintly.
“I do not want you to be hurt either… I care deeply for you, Diana.”
“Lord Alan…”
Diana closed her eyes and pressed her cheek blissfully into Alan’s palm.
His heart gave a violent thud.
“I am so glad you are safe. Truly…”
Diana’s tearful words seeped deep into Alan’s heart.
Warmth spread through a heart that had been bristling with murderous rage after an entire organization had conspired to kill him.
“You are right… Rather than becoming angry, this is what I should have said.”
Acting upon the impulse rising from the depths of his heart, Alan swept Diana into his arms.
Held tightly within his powerful embrace, Diana blinked her tear-filled eyes.
“Thank you.”
“Lord Alan…”
The instant Alan’s voice reached her ears, Diana’s emotions surged like a torrent.
His words and his warmth shook her to her very core and set her heart ablaze.
The gifted young woman renowned for her calm composure sobbed against the man’s chest like a small child.
* * *
After defeating the monsters and suppressing the rebels, the subjugation force returned safely to the royal capital.
Earl Joseph, said to have masterminded the rebellion, was imprisoned in the palace’s underground dungeon and would now be subjected to questioning.
How much of the truth would actually be brought to light?
Alan held not the slightest hope for an investigation led by the royal palace.
Far more important was deciding how he should proceed from this point onward. His thoughts were consumed by what course he himself should take.
* * *
“Lord Alan, you truly did not need to go out of your way to escort me home.”
“I could hardly do otherwise.”
Most of the Gazard Knights had returned to the Gazard duchy.
Only Diana and a small number of knights were returning to the Gazard residence in the royal capital. As though determined to protect Diana personally, Alan rode alongside them all the way from the royal castle to the ducal residence.
Even after they arrived and dismounted, Alan continued to gaze at Diana with unmistakable concern.
“Rather than worrying about me, please be concerned for your own safety now, Lord Alan.”
“I know…”
Diana likely had her own thoughts regarding the Royal Guard’s rebellion.
Being worried over by a girl so much younger than himself, Alan gave a sheepish smile.
“That’s right! Lord Alan… please do not forget our promise to go on a date.”
“…Are you truly certain that is what you want?”
At Diana’s pointed reminder, Alan answered with bewilderment.
A date with someone as young and beautiful as Diana could only be considered a reward for Alan.
Even a man seventeen years her senior found himself helplessly flustered by her straightforward invitation.
(Ah, I truly am no match for Lady Diana—)
Alan’s eyes softened as he gazed at the mischievously smiling young woman.
She was his friend’s daughter, and he had always thought of her as a child under his protection—or so he had believed.
Before he knew it, she had grown into a beautiful woman and become someone reliable enough to save him.
It was a truth from which he could no longer look away.
He now saw Diana as a woman in her own right.
He must not give this emotion a name.
Once he recognized it for what it truly was, there would be no going back.
Quietly sealing away the feelings that had begun to take root deep within him, Alan continued gazing after Diana as she disappeared into the ducal residence.
