Do You Really Have to?

An outdoor café in the Imperial Capital offered a panoramic view of the city.

I sat across from Lucia at an outdoor table bathed in warm sunlight.

"Is the tea to your liking?"

"Yes, well......"

Now that the recruitment notice for the Ashen Forest expedition had spread far and wide,

it would be a mistake to think I was merely sipping tea with a woman at such a critical time.

For the time being, there was nothing I could do by staying with the family.

Important practical matters, such as cosmetic distribution and military-supply procurement, were being handled perfectly by Irina.

The expedition wasn't leaving tomorrow or the day after, either.

The notice had only just gone out, and I planned to recruit applicants for at least a month.

I had other things to do before the expedition departed.

Interviewing applicants and weeding out the useful candidates.

Even so, I had no time to leisurely drink tea.

I hadn't come to see Lucia just to drink a cup of tea. I had come to see her because I had important business.

"......"

Lucia sat across from me holding her teacup, her expression sullen.

Her usual elegant bearing was nowhere to be seen; her lips were pushed out in a pronounced pout.

Because Lucia's social schedule was packed, I had struggled to arrange this meeting.

But now that we had met, the atmosphere was terribly awkward.

Sip-

I took a sip of black tea. Lucia's mood was beginning to make me self-conscious.

For some reason, she seemed sulky, but I had no idea why.

"Lady Lucia. Did you have another nightmare?"

Clatter-!

Lucia's hand slipped, and the teacup struck the saucer.

"......No, it's not that."

Lucia subtly turned her head away. Her profile was flushed red.

"Then did something happen?"

"......"

Lucia pressed her lips together.

Something really had happened. How could I not know, after we'd known each other for so many years?

Technically, I'd been the only one who had known her all those years......

***

Lucia knew very well how she appeared to the outside world.

The Star of High Society.

A title that countless nobles looked up to and praised.

But to Lucia herself, it felt like an inconvenient shell.

Lucia believed her true worth lay elsewhere.

The first and only person ever to rank first in both the Imperial Academy's Swordsmanship and Magic Departments.

A peerless genius knight who had already reached the fifth star as a mage and even forged four mental paths.

Lucia was a prodigy who combined overwhelming accomplishments in both the arts and martial disciplines with beauty.

But people only see what they want to see.

The Lucia they saw was nothing but the Star of High Society.

No matter how groundbreaking her achievements, they focused only on her appearance and empty reputation.

Lucia narrowed her eyes with her lips pressed tight.

Astin sat across from her, leisurely drinking black tea.

Today, his unconcerned demeanor seemed different to her.

'I thought at least this man...... At least Young Master Astin would be different.'

Lucia swallowed her disappointment bitterly.

She had no particular reason for thinking he would be different.

If there was a reason, it was because he was the first man she had ever found appealing.

Perhaps it had been closer to a wish than an expectation.

Lucia was the first to break the awkward silence.

"I saw the notice for the Ashen Forest expedition. You organized it, didn't you, Young Master?"

Astin slowly set down his teacup. The corners of his lips rose leisurely.

"Yes, you saw it."

Lucia bit down hard on her lower lip. A rush of hurt welled up in one corner of her heart.

Objectively speaking, Lucia was a force that would be of immense help to the expedition.

If Astin had truly seen her for what she was. If he had even been aware of her,

he could have hinted at the expedition, or even tried to recruit her.

Astin had kept the expedition's details hidden from her until now.

Even now that Lucia had brought it up first, Astin merely laughed it off.

As if Lucia did not matter to him in the slightest.

"Young Master."

Lucia belonged in the greenhouse of high society. The Ashen Forest expedition did not suit her at all.

It was obvious he thought this, even if he had not said so.

Lucia steeled her trembling voice and asked,

"Don't get flustered—just answer me honestly. What kind of person am I to you, Young Master?"

A brief silence hung in the air.

Astin quietly looked at her, then opened his mouth.

"A beautiful young lady."

The Star of High Society, a beautiful young noblewoman.

To Astin, she was neither more nor less than that.

So this man was just like all the other nobles in the end.

Her disappointment was as great as her expectations had been.

Unable to do anything but avert her gaze, Lucia lowered her head.

"So you came to drink tea with a beautiful young lady."

"No. I came to see you for another reason. I came to recruit you."

The context changed in an instant. Lucia merely blinked, as if her thoughts had stopped.

The strength slowly left both hands clutching her skirt.

"What did you just say......?"

"You're the only person ever to have ranked first in both departments. Of course I had to recruit you."

Astin had pinpointed Lucia's true worth, which everyone else had seen and ignored.

Just as he had recognized General Vermand's hardships within the Longsword.

"From what I've seen, you don't belong in high society. I think you'd be better suited to a battlefield."

Lucia. You suit a battlefield better than high society.

In Astin's mind, the words had been half sincere and half a joke.

The Lucia Astin knew was not the Star of High Society, but a comrade-in-arms he could trust to guard his back.

"Pfft-"

Lucia couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

Being told that a battlefield suited her better than high society, when she was called the Star of High Society—it was the first time she'd ever heard anything like it.

Looking back, he had also said on the terrace that a uniform suited her better than a dress.

"Young Master. Are you really a recruiting officer?"

"I meant it sincerely, in my own way."

When Astin's hand came across the table, Lucia's gaze naturally dropped toward it.

"Am I the first person you've recruited, Young Master?"

"And the last."

"How can you say such sweet things and have such a lovely voice, too? All right, Recruiting Officer. I'll enlist."

Without hesitation, Lucia clasped Astin's hand.

"As you know, the Ashen Forest is the most dangerous demon realm in the Empire. You could die if things go wrong."

"I don't mind. I know all that."

That was precisely why she liked it even more.

If she wanted to leave high society and gain recognition beyond its confines, there was no better choice than the expedition.

She knew very well what sort of place the Ashen Forest was.

She was clasping his hand simply because she trusted Astin.

She believed that this man could not possibly have planned the expedition thoughtlessly.

"Do you remember the wish voucher?"

"You mean the wager over the cosmetics. Are you going to use it now?"

"Yes."

"You don't have to. I'm going because I want to."

So he was going to spend the wish voucher on the Ashen Forest expedition.

That was what Lucia had thought until she heard his answer.

"I intend to use it a little differently. Will you serve as my adjutant on the expedition?"

"Your adjutant? It doesn't sound as though you're saying that simply because of my abilities......"

She deliberately drew out the end of her words and smiled mischievously.

She wanted to tease him by poking fun at that face pretending to be nonchalant.

Astin motioned with his chin without changing expression.

"As my adjutant, you'll have to stay by my side at all times. It means I'll be able to protect you constantly."

That, rather than her abilities, was his true intention.

A soft intake of breath escaped her lips.

Lucia's guess had been correct, but his straightforward admission was still unexpected.

Heat flared up in an instant. She could feel it warming her cheeks all the way to the rims of her ears.

"Young Master."

Lucia propped her chin up deliberately and smiled coquettishly.

She forced her voice into a soft, gentle tone.

"Honestly. You really know how to toy with a woman's heart, don't you?"

"Hardly. If you were an ordinary woman, you would have recoiled in horror. You would have given me an earful the moment I mentioned the expedition."

A half-breath's pause after he spoke.

Astin drew Lucia's attention with deliberate silence.

"I simply know Lady Lucia's heart well."

Lucia stared at Astin, her eyes wide.

She wanted to look away immediately, but if she did, she would reveal her feelings.

Nothing revealed her feelings more clearly than avoiding his gaze.

Astin at the debutante ball was an example-

Thinking of that threatened to turn the tables on her.

All at once, Lucia reached out. She snatched up a freshly baked roll lying on the table.

"Mmph?"

Astin's eyes went wide, his gaze snapping to the center.

Lucia ignored him and stuffed the bread deep into her mouth.

"Just shut up and eat."

She had to silence him somehow.

If she heard any more, she might end up revealing something she didn't want him to see.

'Honestly...... I can't handle him.'

***

After leaving the café, we climbed straight into the carriage.

I lightly took Lucia's hand and escorted her into the carriage first. Then I boarded and sat across from her.

Rattle-

The carriage set off smoothly and began leaving the streets of the Imperial Capital.

According to the original plot, Lucia was the one who spearheaded the effort to open up the forest.

Having Lucia accompany me made me feel much more at ease.

Of course, I had no intention whatsoever of foisting the burden onto Lucia.

Once we reached Cardenos, I would have to interview countless applicants.

But there was something I absolutely had to do first.

Raise my personal combat strength.

There were only two rings currently formed around my core.

The Ashen Forest was not a place where one could survive with a mere two rings.

And it wasn't only the Ashen Forest. I couldn't afford to neglect my growth if I wanted to prevent the coming destruction.

I might have been busy turning the family upside down and swallowing up a merchant guild, but that was no excuse.

'As luck would have it, Lucia is right in front of me.'

In my previous life, I owed much of my success in forging eight rings to Lucia's protection.

Therefore, now was the perfect time to forge a new ring.

"Lady Lucia."

"Yes, what is it?"

Lucia, who had been looking out the window, turned her head.

"I would like you to stand guard for me on the way to Cardenos."

"By stand guard, do you mean you're going to forge a Sun Ring?"

"Yes."

Lucia knew that I was a Ring Knight. The rumors had spread far and wide, after all.

Lucia brushed the strand of hair that had fallen across her lips behind her ear.

"I know what acting as a guardian involves. But I only know it in theory; this will be my first time actually doing it."

Deep concern shadowed her face.

"It's too dangerous to entrust it to me. You should ask someone with more experience instead......"

Her reaction was understandable. Forging a Sun Ring was a dangerous act that used one's life as kindling.

At least a guardian's assistance could reduce the risk.

But it could also easily be interpreted as entrusting one's life to that guardian.

"Everyone has a first time."

"Even so......"

"You don't need to worry too much. In fact, I can do it without a guardian, but I'm asking you just in case."

Lucia took a short breath and nodded.

She looked wholly unsure of herself, but once she started, she would probably do it better than anyone.

I took a deep breath and began undoing the buttons of my outer shirt.

One, two.

Just as the buttons came undone and my bare skin was about to be exposed,

"W-What—!?"

A high-pitched scream rang through the cramped carriage.

Lucia abruptly turned away, covering her eyes with both hands.

"W-Why are you taking your clothes off all of a sudden!?"

"Ah."

I cleared my throat and fastened my collar again.

"Normally, it's better to take off your upper garments when you have a guardian in front of you. They need to place a hand on your exposed chest and pay attention to the flow of your core and your body's reactions."

Lucia's eyes widened beyond their limits. Her face had also turned bright red like a radish.

"R-Really? Do you really have to?"

"Not necessarily. Usually, they place a hand on your back instead, but......"

All of a sudden, I found myself at a loss for words.

―I'll stand guard for you, so take your clothes off. It's been a while since I felt up those pecs, hehe......

Lucia was standing before me, covering her eyes with both hands.

It was clearly a perfectly natural reaction, yet it felt unfamiliar.

"W-Well, your back isn't so bad either......"

I came out of my old reverie. Lucia was fully within my sight.

"If you really have to put your hand on my chest, I mean, even so, how could a man and woman do something so improper...... Do you really have to take your clothes off?"

Lucia rambled incoherently with both hands cupping her cheeks.

She stole a glance at my chest while pretending not to. She couldn't control the heat in her face.

I hid a wry smile as I looked at Lucia.

"Your back is fine too. It really makes no difference. There won't be a problem if I just slip my hand between your clothes."