He could’ve asked for a lot of other things, and he could’ve wanted something bigger.

But Baron didn’t.

He chose her in front of him now instead of the future that may not come.

Maybe she didn’t even notice. The way she looked at him wasn’t what he expected. Nevertheless, he didn’t show any disappointment or push her away, but just begged her to be nice to him.

How could one refuse such a request?

Seira lifted her half-stretched body and stroked his cheek. A man with the strongest body in the empire was looking up at her with innocent eyes. Like a docile sheep, or like an obedient dog.

“What should I do with you…?”

Seira’s contemplative words made him laugh out loud.

“That’s what I wanted to say, but you beat me to it.”

She tapped around his mouth with her fingertips, tilted her head and then kissed him lightly. When he raised his eyebrows at the tickling sensation, she rubbed them gently and smiled.

“You look like a fool.”

“Do you want to save a man who’s a pushover and a fool?”

“Have a big dream, too.”

He hugged her and rolled around, trying to pin her down with just that short kiss. Her lips overlapped without complaint, even when she was under him who was several times heavier than her.

After a moment of hesitation, Seira couldn’t resist his begging gaze and finally gave him a break. Unable to keep looking at his ecstatic face, she closed her eyes and surrendered herself to his tongue, which engulfed her in an affectionately.

Fortunately, he focused on just kissing her as if he didn’t want anything more than this.

The sincerity in the conversation they exchanged lightly like a joke was bittersweet, but the body contact was warm, the kiss sweet, so it was at the very least comforting.

What was supposed to be a cold night in the middle of a desolate land where not a single grass could be seen had turned surprisingly warm.

* * *

On the fifth day, their search didn’t progress.

Seira and Baron returned to D-Arc again to reorganize. There were only two days left. If she couldn’t find it here, she had no choice but to promise to find it next time.

“What the hell, where is it…?”

Baron put a plate in front of Seira as she agonized looking over the map once again.

“Eat first, Seira.”

Feeling sorry for the poor meal she had served while they stayed out for two days, she made a meat stew, the dish she worked hard on this morning, and served it to Baron. His reaction to the stew was simply intense.

“You’ve been eating things like this?”

To her surprise, he drove her out the kitchen. Then, Baron put various unknown ingredients into the stew and boiled it again. Then, the stew was served again.

“It doesn’t look much different on the outside.”

Baron snorted at her words, “Eat it and tell me.”

“Okay, I’ll enjoy it.”

Without expecting much, Seira put a spoonful into her mouth, and her eyes widened with surprise.

“What did you do to it?”

The deep taste of the broth mixed with various vegetables was slightly spicy and very delicious.

“Is it edible?”

Eating his share of the stew, Baron reacted calmly as if he knew from the start.

“If meat is the main ingredient, it is obvious that secondary ingredients should be included. It’s a matter of union… wait, why are you looking at me like I just betrayed you?”

“At the very least I thought I was a better cook than you.”

Born as Jeff’s successor, she wondered if he would ever cook and eat his own food. When his cooking skills, which she thought would be similar to hers, were unexpectedly excellent, Seira felt it was very unfair.

Baron, who glanced at her, told the truth.

“Since following you secretly as a mercenary, I realized that it was inevitably a skill to improve. I had to figure it out.”

“What?”

He reached out and wiped the stew from her lips.

“Don’t be mad. But thanks to the connections I made with the mercenaries at that time, I was able to obtain information about the D-Arc’s raid first.”

At his words, Seira asked right away a topic she was curious about.

“What’s the price?”

“The Elixir of Eternity.”

At Baron’s reply, Seira’s expression hardened, “The Elixir of Eternity?”

The elixir could restore severed limbs as long as a person was breathing. It was the result of extracting blood from the direct line of Viseltium, refining it for easy consumption, and applying preservation magic.

There was no doubt of the source, as Calrad and Aven wouldn’t have given away their blood to capture her.

“Is it the temple?”

They must have extorted blood from Bern Clemens Viseltium, who had been hiding beneath the temple grounds.

“That’s a good chance.”

“What the…”

Seira rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand. Knowing Bern was Aven’s father made her feel even worse.