After leaving the royal castle without any trouble, I contacted Jacob and set a meeting point—the train station.
When I arrived, I couldn't find the others, so I waited for a while before all four of them finally showed up. The moment Alice saw me, she ran straight over.
"Mr. Karen! Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine."
I answered casually, and then Jacob stepped up in front of me.
"Mr. Karen, why did the king summon you?"
"He just wanted to recruit me. Honestly, he's far more foolish than our king—no vision at all."
I replied in a light tone. Grace, however, sighed helplessly at my words.
"I think only Mr. Karen would dare speak about a king like that."
Jacob seemed to agree, wearing an expression that clearly said, "This is inappropriate, but… considering who you are, can normal standards even apply?"
Of course they could. I hadn't used some unheard-of, world-shattering magic or anything. I wasn't some clueless idiot ignorant of how magic worked in this world.
Still, those were just their thoughts. They weren't taking my words seriously. We'd known each other for almost a month now, so I didn't mind saying things like this in front of them.
Then Jacob's expression shifted to curiosity.
"But you seem pretty happy. Did something happen?"
Do I really look that happy? Maybe talking about King Bari reminded me of how satisfying it felt to chew him out earlier.
But that wasn't something I could tell them. He was royalty, after all. As a commoner, I was supposed to endure things like that.
Even though we'd spent nearly a month together, Jacob and the others came from different backgrounds and ways of thinking. Some things were better left unsaid.
I smiled.
"It's nothing. Let's just get on the train and leave."
After that, we bought our tickets and boarded the train safely at eleven.
Finally—finally! We could leave! Please, please, please, let there be no more incidents!!!
This time, Jacob, Grace, and I shared one compartment, while Ethefelis and Alice shared another. I made sure to take over the sofa, forcing Jacob and Grace to sit together.
Then came chatting time.
"By the way, how are Lixia and kid doing?"
"They went back to academy."
"No fighting?"
"No, everything's pretty peaceful."
"That's good. Lixia was pretty decisive yesterday—refusing to forgive someone who harmed her. And that kid too—he stepped up and played the bad guy when Lixia was struggling with the maid's request."
For me, that was probably the only time that obsessed guy looked cool. For once, he seemed like a reliable man.
"He definitely likes Miss Lixia!"
Alice suddenly jumped into the conversation, clearly excited. Grace nodded in agreement.
"I think so too. Seeing him desperately plead to you for Miss Ethe's sake was really touching."
"What's so touching about that? You're making it sound like I'm the bad guy."
I frowned a little. I was the one who went to save people. And I never told him to beg me—he chose to do that himself.
But Grace ignored me completely, continuing with an excited expression. Romance topics really did get people going.
"But Miss Lixia might have started liking him too."
"If that's all it takes, then she's way too easy."
I immediately shot that down. Lixia had left because she was fed up with his behavior. If one act like that could overwrite everything she thought of him before, then she really would be too easy.
Jacob, stroking his chin and looking at the floor, spoke in a thoughtful tone.
"So that means Grace is easy too."
"Mr. Jacob, I am NOT an easy woman!"
Grace panicked instantly, flustered as she tried to defend herself.
"Don't think I'll follow just because someone gives me candy! I'm absolutely not that kind of woman! Please don't misunderstand!"
She kept explaining herself desperately. Meanwhile, Jacob turned bright red, flustered as he averted his gaze.
"I—I get it, I get it. Calm down… you're too close…"
While defending herself, Grace had unconsciously leaned closer and closer. Now their faces were barely a foot apart.
Personally, I thought that was still pretty far.
Then Grace realized what she had done. Her face instantly turned bright red—like an apple.
"Ah… ah! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…!"
She quickly backed away, apologizing over and over. But her mind kept replaying what had just happened. Suddenly, she slid off the sofa, crouched on the floor, and covered her face with both hands, too embarrassed to look at Jacob.
Jacob, however, didn't look bothered at all. If anything, he looked a little happy. Scratching his cheek, he spoke gently.
"It's okay. I know."
Hearing that he wasn't offended, Grace hesitated before slowly turning her head toward him. She lowered her hands, revealing a timid expression.
"…Really?"
Seeing her like that seemed to make Jacob even happier. He smiled and patted the seat beside him.
"Really. Don't sit on the floor—come back up."
Grace brightened, smiling as she slowly stood up and sat back down on the sofa. She straightened her posture, pressed her legs together, and folded her hands neatly on her lap—like a proper lady.
I figured she thought she'd embarrassed herself earlier, so now she was trying to act like a refined noble lady to restore her image in Jacob's eyes.
That was probably it. I couldn't think of any other explanation.
Now both Jacob and Grace had faint smiles on their faces. All I could do was think, Wow, the sun is really shining hard today.
As I enjoyed the moment, Alice leaned close to my ear and whispered.
"Karen, I feel like Ms. Grace and Mr. Jacob are acting strange."
Not wanting them to hear, I covered my mouth and whispered back.
"How so?"
"I can't explain it… they just seem really happy. Even though nothing special happened."
Looks like Alice didn't understand the shy feelings between them. But that was something she'd have to figure out on her own—I couldn't teach her that.
"Maybe they're just thinking about something nice."
"Maybe…"
Alice nodded, though she still looked puzzled.
Across from us, Jacob and Grace looked at us suspiciously.
"Karen, Alice, what are you whispering about?"
"You two look suspicious. Are you talking about someone behind their back?"
Grace sounded especially wary, like she suspected we were talking about her. Probably because Alice kept sneaking glances at them.
Honestly, it wasn't a big deal.
"We were just wondering why you two seem so happy."
"Y-Yeah."
Alice nodded vigorously.
"Is that so?"
"Is that so?"
They both spoke at the same time, in the exact same tone. Then they looked at each other in surprise—before both of them blushed again.
Did they just remember something happy again?
They quickly looked away, pretending nothing happened. But their flushed faces didn't fade.
"Karen, it's happening again. They're definitely acting weird."
Alice whispered in my ear again, completely ruining the mood.
I pushed her lightly.
"Don't worry about it. Just go sit down."
Alice obediently returned to her seat, though she kept watching Jacob and Grace with confusion.
But that didn't matter. Once she discovered something new, she'd forget all about this.
What mattered was Jacob.
Even though he said he wanted to give up on Grace, it was obvious he couldn't. Deep down, he still wanted to keep liking her.
I looked out the window at the passing scenery and silently hoped—
that Jacob's feelings would work out…
and that he'd somehow survive facing Grace's overprotective, daughter-obsessed Sword Saint father.