“Huh?”
He must have mistaken me for the one the knights were attacking.
“I’m over here, Sir Hedel!”
“Gah—yes! Rabbit, be careful!”
Apparently, Hedel was just as flustered as I was.
“Hedel!”
For some reason, the moment the golden rabbit came under attack, Hedel seemed to completely lose his composure.
But he quickly regained his senses and swung his sword toward the treasure.
And in that brief moment—
“Golden Rabbit!”
“Pii!”
—I rescued the golden rabbit.
The rabbit slipped between the two knights, then sprang up lightly and landed straight in my arms.
At the same time, behind me, I heard the sound of the treasure being split apart by Hedel’s sword.
And the very next moment, a whistle echoed from the distance.
The match was over.
“...Whew.”
Only then did I finally let out the breath I had been holding.
‘It’s over.’
Thank goodness.
Honestly, when I fell into the water, I thought not only the match, but everything else might be over too…
“Golden Rabbit, it’s thanks to you.”
Because the golden rabbit had saved me.
‘And the one who saved me in that dream was…’
Holding the golden rabbit tightly, I rubbed my cheek all over its fluffy fur.
“Pi-pii…!”
The golden rabbit hurriedly jumped out of my arms and put some distance between us.
“Pii.”
At that moment, Hedel rushed over to the rabbit.
“R-rabbit!”
The way he anxiously checked whether it was hurt felt strangely out of place.
Anyone could adore or worry about a rabbit, so why did it feel so strange?
Then I realized why.
‘Didn’t he seem to dislike it when they first met?’
Back when I first brought the golden rabbit to the Erne Knights’ quarters and introduced it to Hedel and Millia—
At that time, he had looked extremely wary of it. Almost like he disliked it.
“Pii.”
The golden rabbit casually folded one ear and replied to Hedel about something.
Hedel nodded toward it with a face full of trust.
Then the golden rabbit trotted back toward me.
Its four tiny paws stopped right in front of me.
“Pii?”
I quietly stared down at the golden rabbit.
Strange.
This was really… strange.
‘Why…’
Why did my adorable rabbit keep reminding me of Cassium?
‘Lize!’
Was it because I’d heard his voice when I fell into the water earlier?
Because I’d mistaken the one reaching out to me for Cassium?
“……”
“Pii?”
The golden rabbit called out to me again.
Only then did I realize I had been staring down at it with narrowed eyes.
“Ah…!”
What on earth was I thinking?
“Pii.”
“Sir Hedel, you worked hard.”
Hurriedly, I approached Hedel and the Visel knights we had fought alongside and wrapped up the match with greetings.
By then, the Visel knights who had stepped outside the tent were staring blankly toward the direction where the whistle had sounded.
It would be a lie to say victory and defeat didn’t matter just because it was a friendly match.
To knights, winning and losing mattered.
It was an opportunity to prove themselves. That was why they fought so desperately.
But that applied not only to Visel, but to Erne as well.
“Everyone worked hard.”
“Lady Artiella…!”
I shook hands with the knights.
“The honor was ours, being able to cross swords with the Imperial Knights.”
“Sir Jude has incredibly powerful fists. And Sir Liv’s movements were astonishingly fast. I learned a great deal.”
“You flatter us… By the way, is the spot my fist grazed earlier alright?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
To anyone overhearing, it might have sounded as if we were mocking each other, but both the Visel knights and I spoke sincerely.
‘This kind of stimulation is exactly why events like this are held every year.’
So knights could witness one another’s perseverance and learn from each other’s strengths.
‘Well, except for that knight.’
My gaze shifted toward the knight who had regained consciousness after fainting—the one who had drawn a real sword from the rocks.
‘His name was Polus, wasn’t it?’
Suddenly, I remembered Mars bragging endlessly after joining Visel and mentioning the name of his mentor.
That mentor’s name had also been Polus.
‘Now I understand what Mars learned from him.’
Perhaps noticing my gaze fixed on that knight, another Visel knight spoke first.
“We apologize for what happened earlier. I believe our comrade simply wanted victory too badly.”
“You should apologize to Sir Hedel rather than me.”
I pointed toward Hedel.
Standing behind us listening to the conversation, Hedel simply nodded as if to say it was fine.
“Um, Lady Artiella. That rabbit…”
“It’s my rabbit. It seems it followed me here. I apologize for the confusion.”
“No, we’re the ones at fault for nearly hurting it without understanding the situation.”
“Earlier, did you perhaps trip because of this rabbit? If so, I sincerely apologize.”
That incident had been bothering me a little.
Of course, by the time Sir Liv fell, Hedel had already been on the verge of cutting down the treasure, so the outcome had practically been decided.
Still, I couldn’t say it had no effect whatsoever.
And if the golden rabbit had injured someone, then that responsibility was mine too.
The golden rabbit had always acted with me as its top priority, so if it had acted intentionally…
‘Then that’s my fault too.’
Realizing how naturally that thought came to me startled me a little.
I had unconsciously assumed the golden rabbit would act for my sake.
I didn’t know when I had started thinking that way.
“No. Actually…”
Sir Liv hesitated before speaking.
“To tell the truth, I didn’t trip over the rabbit. I tripped over a rock beside me.”
“Pii.”
Only then did the silent golden rabbit let out a sound.
“Really?”
“I just… wanted something to blame. I’m sorry.”
My expression brightened slightly.
Then the golden rabbit really hadn’t done anything wrong!
I crouched down and spoke gently to the rabbit.
“Golden Rabbit, Sir Liv apologized. Can you forgive him?”
“Pii.”
The golden rabbit coolly folded its ears and nodded.
Watching that, I once again fell into thought.
‘It’s so similar…’
That cool reaction, like none of this mattered somehow…
“Pii?”
“Hm? Golden Rabbit? Uh—?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and forcibly shook the thoughts away. Then I sprang back to my feet.
“Let’s head back.”
Hedel glanced between me and the golden rabbit as he walked beside us.
“Sir Hedel, you really did well.”
“It was nothing. It was only because the division commander came to help at the moment I realized my own shortcomings.”
That was Hedel’s immediate response.
Honestly, since he was a Black Panther knight, I had worried at first whether we’d be able to coordinate properly.
But after working with him directly, I realized that for a Black Panther knight, he possessed a surprisingly admirable sense of humility.
His skills were solid too, and he was humble and dependable…
“What a waste.”
“It’s better if you stay with our Golden Lions.”
“Pardon?”
“Anyway, good work. We won thanks to you.”
“No. But what exactly happened to you midway through the match?”
Hedel’s gaze drifted toward my dirt-covered uniform.
It was soaked through with water and caked in mud.
“Something happened in the middle.”
That “something” was Mars pushing me off the cliff, but I had to be careful about saying it outright.
After all, I still carried the name Artiella, and I cherished the family name my parents had given me.
And what Mars had done was more than enough to disgrace the name Artiella.
Still, there was one more thing I wanted to confirm.
I turned around.
The Visel knights walking behind us looked my way.
“By any chance… during today’s match, did Visel have a strategy where the offense and defense teams joined forces?”
Depending on whether all of Mars’s actions had been planned with Visel, or whether he had acted alone, there were decisions I would need to make.
“Huh? The offense team? What do you mean…?”
“Ah, never mind. Everyone worked hard today.”
Just as I thought.
I turned back around and resumed walking.
The next morning.
“What?! Stop lying! Are you joking right now?!”
Mars’s shrill scream echoed throughout the entire estate.
Lize, who had silently been covering her ears, finally lowered her hands once he stopped shouting.
“I’m not joking. I can’t write it for you.”
“You’re changing your story now?!”
Mars screamed as he grabbed anything within reach and hurled it across the room.
She had clearly said she would write him a recommendation letter for the Imperial Knights.
And now, only one day before submission, she was suddenly saying she couldn’t do it.
How shameless could a person be?
“Do you have any idea how dishonorable this is?!”
“Honor?”
At that moment, Lize’s eyes changed.
Her gaze turned noticeably colder, and Mars instinctively flinched.
