13.

Leo was gradually becoming familiar with the baron’s estate. Not just the layout of the buildings or the terrain, but the air, the smells, the different sounds, and even the feel of the grass underfoot.

Compared to the small estate where he had grown up, there were fewer trees, making the air a bit drier, though filled with more floral scents. The increased number of people lent a sense of bustling activity. The closely trimmed grass felt soft underfoot.

The darkness here was a little thinner, something Leo, with his heightened senses, picked up on immediately.

Thanks to this, he could easily slip between the trees in the garden, evading the guards. To him, they were like blind men stumbling about, and he moved with a leisurely, almost casual gait, as though out for a stroll.

There was a reason for tonight’s walk.

Nephi wasn’t coming. Again.

That bird-brained monster.

He clicked his tongue softly. Even with all his heightened senses, he couldn’t detect any trace of the bird nearby.

“….”

Though he had a simple way to summon it, he couldn’t use it, forced instead to resort to this inconvenient method, which made him feel as if his hands were tied.

He took a steadying breath and decided to trust his instincts, moving wherever his feet took him. His instincts, honed as sharply as his blade, often guided him better than conscious thought.

Tonight was no exception.

That idiot bird, honestly.

Upon spotting the bird, Leo ruffled his hair in irritation, nearly dislodging the black hood he wore to conceal his moonlit hair. He quickly adjusted it and then crouched down, resting his chin on his hand as he watched Nephi’s location.

Princess Ateira’s terrace. Again.

The scene made him narrow his eyes—it was more ridiculous than usual. The bird appeared tangled, caught in the vines that wound around the terrace window.

The princess, apparently trying to help the bird, was stretching her arm out as far as she could, but there was no chance she’d reach it. Her pale, delicate fingertips fell far short of the target.

He couldn’t help but laugh quietly at the clumsy attempt. Covering his mouth with one hand, Leo rested his chin on the other, a faint smile he was unaware of tugging at his lips.

Ridiculous woman.

She had pointed a blade at a man.

Thinking back on their relationship, it wasn’t surprising. Her awkward attempt at an attack came to mind—a memory that felt both amusing and familiar. Her strike had been sharp but lacked the finesse of a professional assassin.

It wasn’t the first time Leo had faced a sudden ambush; he’d survived too many encounters with assassins to count on both hands.

She was simply the most delicately raised of all the assassins he’d ever faced.

He was admittedly surprised that her clumsy attack had actually managed to wound him, though that had been due to his own momentary lapse, not her skill as an assassin.

Since then, he’d been too preoccupied with how to leverage the injury she had inflicted to spare much thought for the unfortunate princess who’d dared to attack him.

“….”

He considered going over and freeing Nephi himself but decided against it. Running into her now would only make things awkward and uncomfortable.

Her hand wasn’t going to reach that high. She would give up soon enough. He’d wait until then to retrieve Nephi, settling himself to watch Ateira with the idle interest of a spectator.

After a moment of contemplation, the princess seemed to have an idea. She reached up and tugged on one of the vines hanging nearby.

Oh, was she really planning to climb up there?

“Reckless and foolish,” Leo muttered.

Recklessness was nothing new for her—she had dared to attack him, after all. Who would have thought an imperial princess could be so wild? He’d only ever heard of her as a noble princess, never any rumors like this.

Frowning, he watched her with a sense of disbelief. No matter how foolish, surely she wouldn’t climb up those vines.

Unconsciously, his body tensed as he watched. Strangely, his heart beat a little faster. Fortunately, it seemed she’d given up and retreated back inside.

With a small, exasperated smile, Leo straightened himself with a quiet grunt.

Time to finally retrieve that idiotic bird.

At that moment, he heard a faint shattering sound. Leo quickly pulled back, hiding behind a nearby tree.

Right then, Ateira stepped back onto the terrace and began climbing up the railing.

“…”

Why go to such lengths?

He couldn’t look away. Perhaps it was because he simply couldn’t understand her actions.

Surprisingly, the princess seemed to be holding her balance well, perhaps more so than he’d have expected. The terrace railing was wide enough to give her some footing, and he watched as she cautiously approached the tangled bird, reaching up to it. She was quite close this time.

With her arms fully extended, she appeared to be cutting at something near the bird with a small, glinting object.

What kind of princess does that?

It was absurd. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel a small sense of admiration for her tenacity. He thought of the only other princess he knew, Wintran’s half-sister, Princess Freya, who was nothing like this.

As he mused over whether he’d even need to rescue the bird at this rate, the sudden screech of Nephi broke the quiet.

Startled, the princess instinctively took a half-step back, losing her balance and stumbling.

Flinging her arms out to catch herself was futile as she tipped over the edge of the terrace.

* * *

Falling.

In the split second before she hit the ground, Ateira felt a firm grip seize her waist.

She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for impact, her body tensing in fear. But instead of the harsh ground, she felt herself land on something solid and oddly soft.

“Ha…”

Startled by the strange texture beneath her and a sigh that wasn’t her own, Ateira’s eyes snapped open. Looking around, she realized she wasn’t on the grass. Instead, she lay on something firm, warm, and slightly cushioned.

Her gaze darted upward and locked onto him. There, beneath her, was the man himself.

A pair of steely, frost-touched gray eyes stared back at her, unblinking. Horrified, she scrambled back, pulling herself off him.

Leo slowly pushed himself up halfway, watching her with a look of mild amusement. She looked like a cat with its fur puffed up, already alarmed enough that any further startle might make things even worse.

He rose to one knee, then, feeling a sharp twinge at his neck, touched the area carefully. Blood trickled from a thin scratch.

“…Well,” Leo muttered softly, letting out a faint chuckle and mumbling to himself, “That’s twice now.”

Thanks to this young lady.

It was ironic, given how confidently he’d boasted to Jinpetsu that he’d never be caught off-guard twice. Good thing no one was here to witness it.

Shaking his head at his own carelessness, he straightened his tall frame, pausing to reach for his hood before realizing there was no point; it had already slipped off.

Ateira’s gaze didn’t waver from him. Her piercing red eyes burned with suspicion.

A heavy silence fell between them. Her wary eyes roamed over him with intense scrutiny. Leo returned the stare just as calmly, studying her in turn.

Something small and glinting caught his eye in her hand. It looked like a shard of broken pottery, wrapped with a piece of cloth to make a makeshift handle.

So that’s what she was using to cut the vines.

Realizing the mystery was solved, he stifled a laugh, covering his mouth. The cut on his neck was likely from that crude weapon, too.

When he had grabbed her mid-fall and rolled her into the terrace, the shard must have grazed his neck.

As Leo’s lips twitched into a smile, Ateira’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. What was he planning? She shifted the shard behind her dress, still on guard.

“It seems we’ve never formally met, Princess Ateira. I am Sir Leo fric Helton,” Leo broke the silence, acknowledging their meeting with a polite nod. They weren’t exactly in a position for any other kind of conversation.

“…Ateira Ledetian.”

Giving only her name in return, she coldly asked, “What brings you here at this hour?”

Her face remained taut with suspicion.

Who knew where he’d come from or how he’d appeared here, the very man she had attacked, in her chambers late at night. It would hardly have been surprising if she’d screamed.

“Ah.”

Leo repressed a faint embarrassment, gesturing toward the bird with a nod.

“That bird is mine.”

“…”

“I came to retrieve it, but then I noticed the princess falling. So, my apologies if I intruded.”

“…”

Even though it had been necessary to save her, he still felt obliged to apologize for handling her so freely.

His unexpected courtesy took her off guard.

Ateira’s expression flickered briefly, shifting from mild unease to something more complex, then settling back into her cold demeanor. In the darkness, Leo could clearly see each subtle change in her expression.

For it to be Leo fric Helton who saved her from a dangerous fall—it left her with mixed feelings, and she bit her lip in frustration.

She didn’t regret injuring him, but she did feel that she owed him gratitude for rescuing her. Yet, she found herself unable to express it.

“I didn’t know it was your bird.”

She barely managed to mutter the words, her tone stiff.