*****

「…………」

Elna and Rigoberto remained locked in a stalemate, both standing tall with their chests out, glaring at one another in a heavy, wordless silence.

Rigoberto’s brow furrowed even deeper, looking down at Elna as if she were some sort of insect. Elna, for her part, maintained a cool, composed expression—even letting a faint smile play on her lips—as she rested one hand on her hip. (I think for a second there, I was channeling Cross.) After she thought to herself how much she felt like him, a fish leaped in the river with a soft *plop*.

Rigoberto neither confirmed nor denied her plan, but it seemed he had tacitly accepted her proposal. That was well and good, but—

(Wait, isn't this actually a bit bad?) Elna was starting to realize.

(…I’m the fiancée of the King of Wizrain, aren't I? I mean, is it generally acceptable for a fiancée to be alone with a man other than Cross...? It’s definitely not okay. Not okay at all! The Mrs. Brownie in my head is screaming, 『My goodness! What on earth are you thinking!』...!? Even if it is an emergency, the guy is the King of another country...!?)

(This is bad, this is bad, this is absolutely not good,) Elna thought as cold sweat—no, just regular sweat—started pouring down her face. Come to think of it, her tone had been all wrong lately. When her heart got dragged along by her dragon instincts, she tended to accidentally think that human etiquette didn't matter. That was definitely a bad habit.

『Lady Elna, you are a very quick learner, but occasionally... yes, occasionally, you have a tendency to go "boom" and explode, don't you?』

She remembered the words of Mrs. Brownie, who had smiled so elegantly at the time. She really wished she had remembered that sooner.

「...? What is it? Have you lost your nerve now?」

「No, it's not that...」

「Hmph. Spouting such nonsense without any resolve. I suppose this is the extent of a Wizrain Queen.」

「Excuse me? I am his fiancée, not his Queen.」

「...Did King Crossgard not refer to you as his wife?」

(Cross, please don't make things even more complicated over here,) she sent a resentful thought toward her fiancée (partner). He was probably letting out a massive sneeze right about now.

「That's... well, how should I put it? There's a reason for it, but then again, there kind of isn't...」

As she was trying to explain, the contents of the pocket hidden in the folds of her dress suddenly vibrated. Wondering what it was, she reached in and found a cloth pouch made with magi-tech—the one Kyle had given her, which was 『very small, but holds much more than it looks.』

(Oh, right! I forgot I put this in here!) she remembered, checking the bag. The surface was damp, but she wondered if the inside was okay. The pouch gave a violent, wobbling shake.

「Whoa!」

『HAM-JURAAAAA!!!!!』

*Pop!* Along with a small splash of water, the hamster spirit came flying out.

「Wait, seriously!? You were in there the whole time!?」

She had wondered where it had disappeared to since they got in the carriage; she never imagined it had been lurking in there. Elna watched in surprise as the hamster spirit sat in her palms. It seemed to understand the gravity of the situation; trying to act like a normal hamster while simultaneously conveying its feelings to Elna, it stood on its hind legs and struck a series of "cool" poses with lightning speed. *Bap, sh-pa-pa-pa!*

「That is a hamster with very strange cries and movements...」 Rigoberto remarked, once again wearing a look of pure distaste.

Elna had been feeling anxious that a fiancée being alone with a foreign man was a bad look, but watching the hamster spirit's bizarre antics made her feel like things would be okay. Since it wasn't just the two of them, but two people and one animal, surely that counted as being "safe" by a hair?

「Bringing a pet along... how incredibly leisurely of you. And you, over there.」

「Yes?」

「Can you do nothing about the hem of that dress?」

He pointed downward with an exasperated look. (Do something...?) She looked down and saw that her dress was torn open so wide that her white legs were completely exposed every time the wind blew. Since she was the one who had ripped it to make it easier to move, her only real thought was, *Well, I suppose that makes sense.*

「Even if you tell me to do something about it...」

If her audience had been Cross, she would have turned bright red and told him not to look, but this was the King of an enemy nation. Elna felt no shame whatsoever; her heart was as calm as a windless day. If anything, her only takeaway was that it wasn't very ladylike and was a bit of a blunder.

「It's easy to move in, so isn't it perfect for walking through the forest?」

Rigoberto let out a deep sigh at Elna’s blunt response. He looked like he wanted to ask "What is wrong with you?" Just when she thought he was done sighing, he looked at Elna’s face and let out another, even deeper one.

Seriously, what was his problem?

「...Oh! I can do something about it. Could you wait a moment?」

She held up the cloth pouch with a bright smile. She never imagined it would come to this, but truly, she had nothing but gratitude for Kyle.

---

「It's likely this way. Straight for a while, yes. No mistake.」

Using her eyes to see the spirits, she reported their movements step by step. Elna, placing a hand on a tree trunk and speaking with an increasingly upbeat voice, was currently dressed in a maid’s uniform. Naturally, it was one from Wizrain Castle.

She had brought it along as a spare out of habit, but Noma had scolded her, saying, 『You absolutely, definitely must not wear that!』 so she had buried it at the bottom of her luggage.

When Kyle had given her the pouch that was 『very small but holds much more than it looks,』 she had stuffed it in there while checking its capacity and left it. It was a bit damp since some water had gotten in, but it was much better than the ruined dress.

It was easy to move in, and more than that, it just felt *right*. Even the hamster spirit sitting on her head looked somewhat pleased.

「Now, this way! Let’s go!」